MASSACHUSETTS NURSE NEWSLETTER :: May/June 2008

The state House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to approve a landmark bill to guarantee safe RN staffing in all Massachusetts hospitals. The measure calls upon the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to set safe limits on nurses’ patient assignments, prohibits mandatory overtime, and includes initiatives to increase nursing faculty and nurse recruitment. The law, when enacted, will make Massachusetts only the second state in the nation to set safe staffing limits in hospitals. The House vote on May 22 was 119-35.

“The Massachusetts Nurses Association commends the House for their courageous vote to support the Patient Safety Act,” said Beth Piknick, president of the MNA. “This bill is about patient safety. We want to thank the legislature for recognizing the need to improve patient safety for all our citizens, and we urge the Senate to vote to support the Patient Safety Act as well. Every day we wait for this bill to pass, patients are suffering, and patients are needlessly dying due to lack of appropriate nursing care.”

“We applaud the House of Representatives for its overwhelming vote in support of the Patient Safety Act,” said John McCormack, the cochair of The Coalition to Protect Massachusetts Patients, an alliance of more than 130 of the state’s leading health care and patient advocacy groups. “When enacted, this law will improve the quality of care for all patients in our hospitals and save thousands of lives.”

		Patient Safety: MNA members and staff joined by Rep. Christine Canavan (front row, fifth from left) give a victory cheer after the House vote.

The “Patient Safety Act” will now move to the Senate for consideration. The bill responds to increased concern over quality care in Massachusetts hospitals, as well as to evidence linking disease and deaths to poor patient oversight caused by nurses being forced to care for too many patients at one time. In recent years, medical errors and hospital-acquired infections have soared. Numerous studies link the rise in hospital-acquired infections and other medical complications to understaffing of nurses. Most recently, a report published in the July issue of the journal Medical Care found that safe RN staffing levels could reduce hospital acquired infections by 68 percent.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts hospital industry continues to fight the bill at a time when hospital-acquired infections and medical errors are sharply on the rise. The Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors, to which Massachusetts hospitals belong, reports that 2,000 people—or six per day—are dying in Massachusetts because of preventable medical errors every year.

In 2006, the House passed the same version of The Patient Safety Act, but the bill was not taken up by the Senate. Co-sponsors are Rep. Christine Canavan (D-Brockton) and Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton).

“The time has come to pass this law and to protect the patients of the commonwealth,” said Canavan. “I am so pleased that my colleagues have recognized the merits of this bill. Let’s make this the year we finally reach the governor’s desk!”