June
2004 - MNA publishes "The Model Case for Reducing
Patient-to-Nurse Staffing Ratios in Michigan Hospitals:
Two Scenarios"
Public
Policy Associates has prepared a report, "The
Model Case for Reducing Patient-to-Nurse Staffing
Ratios in Michigan Hospitals: Two Scenarios,"
to examine the hypothetical costs and the hypothetical
savings that may be encountered by an acute-care
hospital in Michigan as a result of reducing its
patient-to-RN staffing ratio from five patients-per-RN
to four patients-per-RN. A 200-bed and a 50-bed
hospital was used in these scenarios, using assumptions
derived from recent and reputable sources of hospital
information in Michigan.
June
8, 2004 - Research Shows Michigan Safe Patient Care
Initiatives Save Lives and Money
"The Business
Case for Reducing Patient-to-Nursing Staff Ratios
and Eliminating Mandatory Overtime for Nurses",
commissioned by MNA and prepared by Public Policy
Associates, Incorporated (PPA) of Lansing, demonstrates
that Safe Patient Care legislation, Senate Bill
1190, will save lives and cut health care costs
for Michigan patients and hospitals in the future.
The Safe Patient Care legislation requires hospitals
to meet minimum registered patient-to-nurse staffing
ratios and places limits on the practice of mandatory
overtime for nurses.
May
21 - MNA PRESIDENT ON OFF THE RECORD
Cheryl Johnson, MNA President, was interviewed about
MNA's Safe Patient Care Initiative on "Off
the Record" with Tim Skubick on WKAR.
The interview is archived here.
May
6, 2004 -- SAFE PATIENT CARE LEGISLATION, Senate
Bill 1190, INTRODUCED
Senator Bruce Patterson (R-Canton; 7th Senate District)
introduced Senate
Bill 1190 to ensure that patients in Michigan
hospitals receive safe patient care. S.B. 1190 will
improve the quality of patient care in Michigan
by amending the public health code to establish
minimum Registered Nurse-to-patient staffing ratios,
as well as prohibiting the use of mandatory overtime
as a nurse staffing mechanism. This bill has received
broad bi-partisan support with numerous Democrat
and Republican Senators co-sponsoring S.B. 1190.
If
you would like to stay current on the progress
of the bill, be sure to sign-up for NurseLine,
MNA's weekly e-letter (send an email request
to carol.smith@minurses.org). Action Alerts"
will also be posted to this website, as
SB 169 moves through the system.
If
you have questions or comments about the
new legislation, please contact Tom
Bissonnette, MNA's Executive Director,
at 888/MI NURSE, ext. 14.
