By Susan Morée
A bill that would ensure specific staffing ratios in hospitals passed along party lines Monday by a vote of 6-3 in its second House committee.
HB 138, the Hospital Patient Safety Act, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Cates, D-Rio Rancho, passed the House Health and Human Services Committee. The bill would require hospitals to set up review boards made up of hospital administrators and staff to review staffing needs and maintain minimum nursing-to-patient ratios recommended by various national nursing associations. The bill heads next to the House Judiciary Committee.
Republicans voted against the bill saying that the bill could create unintentional problems, such as hospitals having to offer fewer beds to patients. Some Republicans also argued against a standard set at the state level.
Cates said each hospital would have some local control and could consider and review staffing ratios to respond to events as they occur, whether that be another pandemic or a bus accident. She said she believes setting standards will lead to better job satisfaction and will lure more nurses who have left the profession to return once better working conditions are put into place.
“We’re concerned that patient-provider safety is not prioritized over profit and we need to increase our safety levels in our hospital settings,” Cates said.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the area Cates represents.
This is really a misguided effort. Requiring a minimum number of nurses will further lower the medical coverage for citizens. Will we then legislate the size of beds and rooms? How about the number of parking spaces at every facility? We need to cut the apple sauce allocation per patient!
Why can’t our legislature solve the real problem – shortage of medical personnel? Why can’t they resolve the malpractice loop hole? Why can’t we make New Mexico an attractive place to practice?
Demanding staffing ratios when the nurses are simply not available is not a solution. A plan needs to be developed and financed to address the actual nursing shortage itself. Education opportunities have to be developed and clinical training sites available. It is highly likely that we would have to look outside the site to attract a sufficient number of nurses.