Essay Example on NYSNA Disseminates Info on Safe Staffing Legislation

Introduction

Safe staffing is one of the critical facilitators of quality healthcare service delivery. As a result, it is the responsibility of legislative bodies to continually evaluate the effectiveness of the enacted regulations related to medical facilities operation. In its memo on safe staffing legislation bill, the New York Nurses Association (NYSNA) informatively and mandatorily disseminated information to the healthcare units in the city of New York. According to the Association, safe staffing was one of the most current challenges in the healthcare sector. Being the voice for more than 150,000 registered nurses, the association affirmed to the policies formulated by the senate on the safe staffing to mitigate the issues associated with the nurse-to-patient ratio. Among the crucial elements of the bill include the rules and regulations governing acute care facilities, acuity system, operational standards, and tools as well as the legalization procedures-including licensing.

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Facts About Safe Staffing Issue

As illuminable from the NYSNA memo, the need for enhancement and enforcement of staffing legislation in the healthcare sector is inevitable (New York State Nurses Association, 2020). Currently, the ratio of nurses to patients is worryingly unprofessional-and as a result, it leads to frequent burnouts amongst the medical practitioners. The implementation of the bill would result in three immediate effects-improvements in saving lives, reducing adverse patient outcomes in the healthcare units, and saving hospital money, which would result in acquiring vital facilities to improve the overall healthcare services.

The safe staffing bill aims at improving the nurse-to-patient ration from 1:8 to 1:4. In past experiences, the former reduced the effectiveness of saving lives by 7%-a record of five deaths for every 1000 patients was evident. Moreover, by enacting regulations that would result in improvement in healthcare staffing policies, the legislative unit of the federal government will facilitate a reduction in the number of adverse events by 5%. Therefore, embracing the legal procedures enacted by the New York State Senate is a praiseworthy approach in enhancing the quality of service delivery in the health sector.

Details of the Current Bill

Sourced from The New York State Senate website, the 2019-2020 bill, commonly referable as safe staffing for quality care act, is numbered S10321 (The New York State Senate, 2019). The bill, which was sponsored by the New York State Assemblymember, Gunther, is designed to amend and enhance effectiveness in the public health law; more so concerning staffing for quality healthcare service delivery. In the bill are the documented staffing plans and healthcare facility operation guidelines and the prospective amendments. Primarily, nine changes entail the following:

The first five sections of the law involve the enhancement of the delivery of quality care by legally setting the minimum nurse-to-patient ratio. Additionally, it outlines the rules on the accessibility and availability of nurses as well as illuminating the basic healthcare staffing requirements. The primary aim of the first four sections is to deal with issues with the shortage of health practitioners.

From section five of the amendment, the bill covers all elements of safe staffing, the conditions set to be met for a healthcare unit to be referable as either Acute system, acute care facility or the corresponding qualifications that either the practitioners or the healthcare unit need to fulfill to fit a specific legal description. Generally, this section outlines the staffing, Skill mix, and operational requirement for health centers. Moreover, it describes the ration of nurses to patient ratio, licensing policies, and the executive regulations of the staffing plans adopted by health institutions. Finally, the bill outlines the professional rules observable by healthcare professionals, and the rules adherable by the healthcare management-for instance, the public disclosure of staffing policies.

References

New York State Nurses Association. (2020, February 10). NY State Assembly Bill A2954. NY State Senate. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/a2954

The New York State Senate. (2019). Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act. The New York State Senate. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/s10321