The Safe Patient Care Act is a bipartisan plan to regulate nurse to patient ratios in hospitals and restrict forced overtime hours for nurses.
Katie Pontifex is a bedside nurse at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing. She says nurses don’t always have a limit to the number of patients they are required to care for during a shift.
“So in hospitals and nursing homes around the state, we are seeing nurses and LPNs care for upwards of 9 to 12 patients in a hospital setting, or 25, plus patients in a nursing home setting, that they're responsible for those medications and such, that's not safe.”
She says the legislation would help nurses from burning out while ensuring they have the capacity to provide quality care to patients.
The measures would also require hospitals to disclose nurse-to-patient ratios.
The bill package was introduced earlier this year in both the state House and Senate.