HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Hundreds of Pennsylvania nurses plan to rally on the steps of the State Capitol on Tuesday. They are calling on the House to pass the Patient Safety Act, which is aimed at increasing safety and improving workplace conditions.
Nurses here in Pennsylvania say they are facing a workforce crisis and something has to be done to address it.
The goal of the Patient Safety Act or PSA is to establish safe staffing standards for all Pennsylvania hospitals, save hospitals money and ultimately save lives. Now in our state, there are reportedly unprecedented levels of short staffing that are causing nurses to leave the profession in record numbers, which leads to patients and communities suffering because of it.
The PSA would directly address the conditions that drive caregiver burnout, trauma, and turnover as well as improve care. There will be nurses’ unions and advocacy organizations in attendance on Tuesday.
Among them, are the Nurses of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals.
Below is a statement regarding the bill from the Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania:
“There is a well-documented national health care workforce crisis and Pennsylvania is projected to have the worst shortfall of nurses among all 50 states. We desperately need more nurses—and more of the many health care professionals who support their vital work—to care for Pennsylvanians.
Hospitals are aggressively working to recruit and retain nurses, offering extraordinary pay raises, bonuses, loan repayment, schedule flexibility, and other incentives. Despite these efforts, hospitals report that, on average, more than 30 percent of direct care registered nurse positions remain unfilled and finding qualified candidates is their top barrier. There simply are not enough nurses.
State government mandating one-size-fits-all nurse staffing ratios across all hospitals will not produce more nurses or make care safer. Instead, it will result in Pennsylvanians waiting longer for and having less access to vital health care by forcing hospitals to close beds and reduce services to comply with state law.
Pennsylvania hospitals, nurses, and patients need real solutions that actually bring more nurses to the bedside. These include growing the number of nurse educators and preceptors; supporting future and current nurses through scholarships, tuition discounts, loan relief, and other incentives; fully operationalizing interstate licensing compacts; reforming the commonwealth’s licensing and credentialing processes; and creating a health care workforce council to prioritize and coordinate this work across all of state government.”
The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania
The rally is expected to begin at 11:30 a.m. on the Capitol steps.
