Schakowsky, Brown Reintroduce Legislation to Improve Patient Care, Empower Nurses

Full text of bill (PDF)

WASHINGTON —  Today, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Co-Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Aging and Families, and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are reintroducing their legislation, the Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act. Nurses deserve more support to ensure they have dignity in the workplace and can put the safety of their patients first. 

“I am proud to reintroduce the Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act with my friend, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio," said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. "Numerous studies have shown that safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios result in higher quality care for patients, lower health care costs, and an overall better workplace for nurses. For years, I’ve talked to exhausted nurses who have said they go home at night, wondering if they forgot to turn a patient because they were stretched far too thin. The need for federal safe staffing standards is about nurses, patients, and everyone’s lives. This bill will improve the health of patients by improving nursing care—establishing minimum registered nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals, providing whistleblower protection for nurses who advocate on behalf of their patients, and investing in training and career development to retain hardworking nurses in the workforce. It is past time that we act on the evidence and give nurses the support they deserve and put patients over profits. Let’s get it done!"

“Workers are the first line of defense keeping Ohioans safe, including in our hospitals,” said Senator Sherrod Brown. “Nurses work long hours doing vital work in our health care system, but too often they’re stretched too thin, caring for too many patients with too little support. We can empower nurses to protect Ohio patients by ensuring nurses are adequately staffed and can advocate for their patients without fearing potential retaliation.”

The Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act would set minimum nurse-to-patient staffing requirements, study best practices for nurse staffing, and provide whistleblower protections to protect the right of nurses to advocate for the safety of their patients. Currently, very few states have rules written into law that establish minimum staffing levels at hospitals. Lack of safe staffing rules can put patients at risk and often forces nurses to care for too many patients at one time without enough support. Studies have shown that safe staffing saves lives, specifically that lower nurse-to-patient ratios are associated with lower mortality rates. 

National Nurses United, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFSCME, SEIU, Alliance for Retired Americans, and AFL-CIO have all endorsed the legislation.

"This staffing crisis was manufactured by the hospital industry,” said Deborah Burger, RN, NNU President. “Hospital executives claim there is a nursing ‘shortage’ but we know that many nurses have left the bedside because they are unwilling to risk their patients’ lives by being forced to care for them in an unsafe manner. This bill would bring them back to providing direct care at the bedside and in clinics by ensuring their patients receive proper, safe, optimal, and timely care. The bill’s introduction is a direct response to the escalating staffing crisis in hospitals across the country. Tens of thousands of nurses have spoken out, marched, and struck for safer patient care conditions over the last year, sounding a clarion call for action. Nurses know the quality of our health care system is on the line and depends on the passage of this bill.”

"The past year pushed our healthcare system, nurses and healthcare professionals to the breaking point. Nurses were overwhelmed by their patient load, in the midst of surge after surge of the pandemic, balancing care, paperwork and helping patients retain dignity, with far too little support and protections from the hospitals where they work. They worked tirelessly, often without sick leave, knowing that there were too many patients and not enough nurses, with the ever-present fear that these numbers might impact their ability to provide their patients with what they need. For some, the greater fear is in speaking up: when they do advocate for safer nurse-to-patient ratios, they are retaliated against, targeted, and are the subject of discipline from their bosses. Safe staffing levels make workplaces safer and make patient outcomes better – and a lack of appropriate staffing levels is a threat to patient health. Doing nothing will result in more people leaving and create more shortages and push our healthcare system to the brink. All this threatens our ability to provide care across the country. Thanks to two of our greatest champions, Rep. Schakowsky and Sen. Brown and for honoring and respecting our country's nurses with a bill to keep them safe on the job, and in turn, protect the people they care for, too," said Randi Weingarten, AFT President .

“Every single day, our nation’s nurses answer the call for their patients and their communities, showing compassion and competence, healing the sick and saving lives. They are the linchpin of our health care system, and they took on more risk and responsibility than ever during the pandemic. But a staffing crisis, now even worse in the wake of COVID, is creating untenable working conditions for our nurses and undermining patient care. It is time to give our nurses some support and relief – that’s what the Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act is all about. On behalf of 1.4 million AFSCME members, I am grateful to Sen. Brown and Rep. Schakowsky for their leadership on this vital issue, for honoring the courage and sacrifice of our nurses – not with empty rhetoric, but with real solutions," said Lee Saunders, AFSCME President.

“Short staffing in our nation’s hospitals has become both the norm and more acute, driving dedicated nurses, and workers at every level of care and service, away from the jobs and patients they love” said Martha Baker, RN, Chairperson of the Nurse Alliance of SEIU Healthcare. “Congress must take swift action to pass safe staffing ratios so nurses, regardless of where we live or where we work, can provide the quality of care we want to give and that our patients deserve."

"The Alliance for Retired Americans is proud to endorse legislation which greatly benefits both hospital patients and our nation's dedicated nurses. We thank Congresswoman Schakowsky and Senator Brown for striving to ensure safe staffing rules so that nurses are not overextended. Having sufficient nursing care is of critical importance to our nation's 54 million older Americans, who often suffer disproportionately as a result of hospital understaffing," said Richard Fiesta, Executive Director, Alliance for Retired Americans.

The bill has 55 original cosponsors in the House.  

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