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Federal Safe Staffing Legislation Proposed by the SEIU Nurse Alliance   

The SEIU Nurse Alliance is calling on Congress to enact legislation for safe staffing and quality care as follows:

Minimum Bedside Patient/Nurse Staffing Standards

1. Establish safe staffing standardscovering all acute care and psychiatric hospitals, emergency room facilities, and ambulatory and outpatient facilities that receive Medicare funds.
2. Require each health care facilityto develop a staffing plan that:
   • Establishes minimum staffing requirements based on number of patients, level of acuity, and intensity of care needed to ensure good patient outcomes.
   • Establishes the specific nursing staff and skill mix needed to carry out the requirements. The skill mix must assure that all elements of the nursing process - assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, intervention, evaluation, and patient advocacy - are performed in the planning and delivery of care for each patient.
   • Is developed in consultation with the direct-care nursing staff.  
3. Require public disclosure of staffing plans,including both mandated and actual staffing levels.

A Ban on Mandatory Overtime for Direct-Care Nurses

1. Set maximum hour limits for nurses, as is done in the transportation industry where public safety is at risk.
2. Except where a formally declared state of emergency has been declared, employers are prohibited from requiring mandatory overtime of nurses that would exceed:
   • A daily limit of previously-determined work schedules or 12 hours in a 24-hour period.
   • 80 hours in a 14 consecutive day period.
3. Licensed nurses providing direct care may voluntarily work overtime as long as their hours do not exceed:
   • More than 16 hours in a 24 hour period without an intervening 8 hour non-work period; or
   • More than 7 consecutive days without at least one consecutive 24-hour off duty period within that time.
4. Negotiated provisions in union contractsthat exceed these protections will prevail.

Whistleblower Protections for Nurses and Other Caregivers

Prohibit an employer from discharging, retaliating against, or discriminating against an employee who reports unsafe conditions, including violations of staffing requirements, or who refuses an assignment under conditions which would be a violation of the standards.