As a healthcare professional it is essential that you stay up to date with what is happening in Washington, as decisions made at governmental level impact upon the very way that we practice our professions. Here is some of the major new nursing legislation on the agenda, which has either already passed recently into law, or is currently moving through the political machinery and could affect health professionals in due course.
Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety & Quality Care (S. 1357, H.R. 2581)
Some legislation is more urgent than others, and this is the case with this bill which looks at staffing levels and standards across the country. It is perhaps hard to believe, but there is currently no standard, at least at the federal level, which deals with the maximum number of patients a fully qualified, registered nurse can care for at one time in a medical facility, retirement home, or so on. In terms of education, there are state limits on how many students can be under the care of a single teacher, for example, and there are also state examples of this in terms of nurse/patient ratios, but this bill seeks to address this pressing issue, which promises to set workable limits on these ratios.
For too long patient care has been jeopardised by inadequate staffing numbers, and this bill is seeking to redress the imbalance. This could have a profound impact on nurses and other medical professionals working at the coalface in medical facilities nationwide.
The Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act (S. 851 and H.R. 1309)
Violence is a pressing issue at every level of society, and in every possible location from schools to hospitals. This bill which is currently passing through Washington seeks to redress this issue which exists all over the United States and has been reaching worrying levels of late. In fact, in 2016, an incredible 69% of all workplace victims of violence were healthcare workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Indeed, healthcare workers are five times more likely to suffer an act of violence at work than other workers. Healthcare workers are more likely to get injured at work that police officers, or even prison workers. Nurses and other health professionals report instances of abuse, both verbal and physical, on an almost daily basis, all in simply trying to carry out their duties as care givers. It is an unacceptable situation.
The essence of this federal bill is that it would require medical facilities of all kinds, from hospitals to nursing homes, and from rehab centers to mental health facilities, to put in place workplace safety plans which are designed to protect all of their employees from acts of violence which may occur from patients in the course of those medical professionals carrying out their duties. The legislation would also require healthcare employers to keep a record of any complaints of violence, and report and investigate them as required.
“This bill would in essence put the guidelines as set out by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. A prevention plan would also be required of all facilities, which could include such steps as employing on-site security staff, and using any number of safety devices and features such as alarms and surveillance equipment. Subcontractors are also covered by the legislation, so it doesn’t just apply to direct employees,” reports Robert Mathis, a law expert at StateofWriting and OXEssays.
Lab Result Reporting
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has recently amended the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). The new legislation, in summary, now allows patients to directly request test results from a laboratory, when previously test results were disseminated via a patient’s doctor. This applies to all those subject to HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996).
“Reactions to the amendments are both positive and negative, with some welcoming this new freedom, but others concerned that patients will not necessarily know what to do with the results that they are given, and could become panicked by ill-informed internet searches, for example,” says Anita Burbeck, a legal writer at PaperFellows and BoomEssays.
This new amendment is relevant to all labs who are subject to CLIA.
Health blogger and journalist Aimee Laurence can be found at Write My Essays and UKWritings. As well as keeping up to date with legislation, Aimee freelances as an editor at Law Essay Help.
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