Nurse-to-patient staffing ratios: annual report.

Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations establishing minimum, specific, and numerical licensed nurse-to-patient ratios by licensed nurse classification and by hospital unit for all specified health facilities. Existing law requires that the ratios establish the minimum number of registered and licensed nurses to be allocated, and requires additional staff to be assigned in accordance with documented patient classification systems. This bill would require the department to conduct an annual review of its enforcement of the regulations and submit a report to the Legislature on an annual basis. The bill would require the review and report to include data regarding the number of reports received by the department of alleged violations of the applicable regulations, investigative steps taken in response to the reports, and the outcome of investigations, as well as a complete list of complaints specific to nurse ratio and staffing violations and whether they were found to be substantiated or unsubstantiated. The bill would require the department, at least every 2 years and in advance of submitting the first report, to hold a public hearing to receive input from direct care nurses and to invite input from other stakeholders. The bill would require the input from the hearing to be summarized and included in the following report. The bill would also require the report to include a plan to implement the suggestions from the hearing or an explanation of why the suggestions were rejected.