| Wednesday, March 25, 2015 12 Noon One Ashburton Place, 21st Floor Boston, MA 02108 |
Thursday, April 2, 2015 10 a.m. Worcester State University**, Blue Lounge 486 Chandler St Worcester, MA 01602 |
Help Us Ensure Strong Regulations by the Health Policy Commission Governing the Implementation of the Law and the Development of an Acuity Tool to Adjust Patient Assignments Under the Law
For the past four months, a new law has been in effect that requires hospitals to adhere to safe patient limits for registered nurses who work in all the state’s hospital intensive care units, ensuring that no nurse can be assigned more than one patient or in certain circumstances, no more than two patients based on the assessment of the staff nurses (not managers or supervisors) on that unit.
Last month , the state’s Health Policy Commission released draft regulations that will establish a process for hospitals to develop an acuity tool to be used by nurses to determine if and when a nurse can take a second patient. These regulations are now out for public comment and the HPC has scheduled public hearings on the draft regulations. The MNA has a number of concerns about the proposed regulations and is currently working with ICU nurses and other nurses across the state to prepare for this hearing, and we encourage ICU nurses to attend these hearings on March 25 and April 2.
Click here to learn more about the law and the proposed regulations. If you have questions about the law and would like to speak at the hearing, contact Megan Collins in the MNA/NNU Division of Legislation and Governmental Affairs via email at mcollins@mnarn.org.
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