United American Nurses Endorses Senate RN Staffing Ratio Bill

CONTACT: Suzanne Martin
website: www.UANNurse.org
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Leadership by Sen. Boxer Brings Safe RN Staffing Closer to Reality for Nurses and Patients

Silver Spring, MD – The United American Nurses, AFL-CIO endorsed the National Nursing Shortage Reform and Patient Advocacy Act (S. 1031), a bill sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to establish minimum RN-patient ratios that will protect patients and nurses in hospitals across America.

“This legislation is an important step forward in the national fight to win minimum, enforceable nurse-to-patient ratios in this country,” said UAN President Ann Converso, RN. “The Boxer bill builds on the momentum we’ve created around this issue in the House under the leadership of Rep. Jan Schakowsky.” Rep. Schakowsky (D-IL) is the cosponsor of UAN-supported federal RN staffing ratio legislation, H.R. 2273, in the House of Representatives.

Numerous studies have shown—and every nurse at the bedside knows from personal experience—that when there are not enough RNs on staff, patient care suffers. A landmark 2002 study by Linda Aiken found that higher RN-patient ratios led to higher levels of nurse burnout and dissatisfaction, as well as poorer patient outcomes and increased medical errors.

Currently, there is no federal law or standard requiring a minimum level of RN staffing. One state, California, has passed an RN staffing ratio law.

“Nurses have already tried the committees, commissions, study groups and other band-aid solutions to RN staffing proposed by many hospitals, and most nurses will tell you those solutions don’t work,” Converso added. “We need a federal mandate for safe, minimum RN-patient staffing ratios to ensure that every patient in the country will have a nurse at his or her bedside. We look forward to working with Sen. Boxer to build support for this critical legislation and make safe RN staffing a reality nationwide.”

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