Response 1
- The New Jersey State Nurses Association (NJSNA) does not currently have any proposals but does list prior legislative successes. They do identify priority issues that are of concern to them and they are: scope of practice, nursing education, licensure issues, healthcare reform, and safe work environments. On the American Nurses Association (ANA) website there is a proposed bill on ending workplace violence in healthcare and social service settings. It passed the House is awaiting on the Senate.
- The fact sheet is attached. The proposal would require the Department of Labor to address workplace violence in healthcare and social service areas. It would mandate employers to come up with an in-depth plan to identify risks, decrease risks, document incidents, provide education and training for nurses and healthcare workers, and not allow for discrimination or reprimand for nurses who report workplace violence. I think they should also include having armed officers at hospitals that can come to the aid of healthcare workers in a timely manner. I remember at the hospital I worked at in North Carolina this nurse abuse concerns was an important issue. The way the emergency department was designed was the front desk and triage rooms were separated from the rest of the emergency department by long hallways. There were instances where patients or their families would become angry and threatening. The triage nurses had no way of protecting themselves, calling for help other than by phone, and even then, the security guards were only allowed to talk to the patients and families. In an article on Nurse.org, a nurse who personally experienced assault is working on legislation to have some measures passed that include:
- assault against a healthcare worker would be a felony
- two law enforcement officers with offenders
- locator badges for all workers to signal for help
- and protections against retaliation and discrimination for reporters of violence
(Nelson, 2019)
- The ways that I can get involved in my state legislation committee is to email my legislation, become a part of the ANA and NJSNA. I could bring this issue to NJSNA. Also, even sharing this issue with other nurses, friends, and family. I could volunteer and become involved with the Interested Nurses Political Action Committee (INPAC) of the NJSNA . The activities of INPAC are campaigning for candidates who support nurses, help with fundraising, educate nurses on political issues, and assist in organization of nurses to become more politically effective (NJSNA, 2019).
References
American Nurses Association. (2019). Legislation introduced into Congress. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/work-environment/end-nurse-abuse/#enaactioncongress (Links to an external site.)
Congress.gov (2019). H.R. 1309- Workplace violence prevention for health care and social service workers act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1309 (Links to an external site.)
Nelson, L. (2019). Nurses say violent assaults against healthcare workers are a silent epidemic. Nurse.org. https://nurse.org/articles/workplace-violence-in-nursing-and-hospitals/ (Links to an external site.)
New Jersey State Nurses Association. (2019). About INPAC. https://njsna.org/policy-and-advocacy/about-inpac/
Response 2
Safe Staffing
Safe staffing is essential for excellent patient care and can ultimately result in life or death for the patient (Safe Staffing, n.d.). Additional registered nurses added to a given shift has been shown to reduce the risk of adverse patient events, medical errors and improve patient care (Safe Staffing, n.d.). This is a legislative issue presented on the American Nurses Association (ANA) at the federal level. Bill H.R. 2581, the Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2019 specifies that the registered nurse to patient ratio for specific units should be limited. Together with efforts among nurse executives, the ANA within each state, and hospital associations can enact legislation regarding state-level staffing.
Benefits of this legislation:
Adequate orientation and training for inexperienced nurses to a new area
Establish guidelines for receiving and investigating complaints
Imposed civil monetary penalties for knows violations
Whistleblower protection
Mandatory public reporting of staffing ratios
States with safe staffing legislation:
Oregon (2002)
Illinois (2007)
Ohio, Washington, and Connecticut (2008)
Nevada and Texas (2009)
Florida filed Bill HB 231 Delivery of Nursing Services 1-10-19. On 5-3-19 the bill died in the Health Market Reform Subcommittee and was indefinitely postposed and withdrawn from consideration
Getting involved:
ANA at the federal level https://nursesvote.org/
Florida Nurses Association (FNA) https://www.floridanurse.org/page/Advocacy
Health Policy Special Interest Group, Legislative District Coordinator, Attend FNA Advocacy Days
Learn about the candidates, issues impacting nurses, volunteering, contacting legislators, and VOTE
Instructions
1-Please read my peer posts above(RESPONSE 1 and 2).
2-Write 2 RESPONSES IN TOTAL: 1 for each one above about what you learned and your opinion from each post.
3-Include 1 reference(to support answer) for each post use CITATIONS and REFERENCES in APA style.
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