Gregoire lauds nurse-staffing deal
OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday hailed a new agreement between nurses and hospitals to provide better nurse staffing.
At signing ceremonies near the Capitol, union leaders and the head of the Washington State Hospital Association agreed to come up with a staffing plan at each hospital in the state.
The hospitals will post the number of budgeted staff throughout the hospital each day – and the number who are actually on the floor each shift. Staffing would remain a subject of negotiations between nurses and administrators. The actual staffing numbers, including any lagging behind the budgeted figure, would be sent to the state.
The governor said the greater attention to nurse staffing will lead to better patient safety and lower overall medical costs. The pact urges each hospital to use “best practices” in improving patient care and to collect information on any links between inadequate nursing care, staffing levels and medical mistakes.
The pact was sealed with help from the Ruckelshaus Center, a dispute resolution body created by Washington State University and the University of Washington. The agreement goes to the Legislature to give it the force of law.
“It’s the first of its kind in the entire country, befitting Washington state to lead yet again for patient safety,” Gregoire told a news conference. “It is clear that it is the next logical step to improving our health care system.
“We are trying to drive up quality while driving down cost. Proper staffing is an absolute key.”
Labor leaders and the hospital group agreed with Gregoire’s contention that better nurse staffing could actually lower overall costs.
“The savings are in preventable errors,” said Leo Greenawalt, president of the hospital group.
Gregoire said the agreement shouldn’t compound the state’s nursing shortage. Rep. Dawn Morrell, D-Puyallup, a nurse herself, said improving working conditions and having proper staffing levels should enable hospitals to retain their nurses.
The state has about 75,000 active registered nurses, about 15,000 licensed practical nurses, and about 76,000 inactive RNs who might be enticed to re-enter the job force, said state Health Director Mary Selecky.
Senate Health Chairwoman Karen Keiser, D-Kent, said staffing ratios have been “a long, hard-fought issue” and that the legislation should win approval this session.