Hospitals, Nursing Homes in New Jersey Must Post Data on Nurse Staffing Levels
Health Care Daily Report
January 25, 2005
 

PHILADELPHIA--New Jersey hospitals and nursing homes will have to compile, post, and make available to the public and state health regulators information on staffing levels in their facilities, under legislation (A. 1727) signed by Acting Governor Richard J. Codey (D) Jan. 24.

The bill, which was a priority for nursing organizations and consumer groups in New Jersey, is effective 180 days after enactment.

The legislation requires New Jersey hospitals and nursing homes to tally the number of licensed or registered health care professionals who provide direct patient care on each shift. The facilities also have to calculate the ratio of patients to registered professional nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nurse aides, and other licensed or registered health care professionals meeting state staffing requirements.

Daily updates on staffing levels and ratios must be displayed in an area visible to patients and their families. The information must be provided to the public on request and reported to the state Health Department monthly. The Health Department in turn will issue quarterly reports that will include a written explanation to help the public interpret the data.

Facilities are required under the bill to post information about the methods they use to determine and adjust staffing levels.

Supported by Union

"Consumers can use this information to choose hospitals and nursing homes more carefully, to decide whether to stay by the bedside of a family member when needed, and to advocate for safer staffing in hospitals and nursing homes," according to Ann Twomey, president of Health Professionals and Allied Employees, a union that represents 11,000 professionals at health care facilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Twomey said the union will use the staffing data to ask state health regulators "to examine more closely the links between unsafe nurse-to-patient ratios and medical errors and unsafe care."

State Sen. Joseph F. Vitale (D), who sponsored the legislation, said, "Statistics have shown that the nurse to patient ratio is reflected in the quality of care patients receive." Vitale, who chairs the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, said, "This measure would allow the public to make more informed decisions about their health care."

The original legislation mandated that hospitals and nursing homes publicly post each month the number of medication errors, patient injuries, decubitus ulcers (bedsores), and nosocomial infections for the previous month and the number and type of complaints filed with the facility concerning patient care for the previous month. But those provisions were deleted in the face of strong opposition from the New Jersey Hospital Association.