Improving patient safety and working conditions for health-care providers

Establishing a Patient Care Commission – This newly-filed proposal of Representative Canavan would establish a special, temporary Patient Care Commission within the Commonwealth. The Commission would be tasked with conducting a study of the acuity of patients in hospitals throughout the state and the efficiency of current direct-patient care staffing levels; to study and evaluate the quality of patient care at the bedside; to determine the risks and benefits of varying staffing levels to licensed nurses, and in terms of hospital liability to patients; and to determine such risks and benefits to acute-care hospitals. The members of the proposed commission would be appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the House, and the Senate President.

The Patient Safety / ‘Safe-staffing’ bill – Once again, Representative Canavan has sponsored An Act Relative to Patient Safety in the House of Representatives. This bill would direct the Department of Public Health to set limits and standards for the number of patients a nurse could care for at a time in an acute care hospital. The measure, supported by a coalition of over 130 civic groups, health-care advocates, labor unions and community leaders from across the Commonwealth, would improve the quality of patient care at facilities across the state and increase nurse recruitment and retention. It has also been proven to be cost effective, as increased staffing leads to decreased medical errors, shorter patient stays, and reduced costs related to nurse staff turnover. The so-called Patient Safety Act does all of this while containing provisions to safeguard financially-distressed hospitals, expand the pipeline of nurses into the profession, and protect critical direct-patient care support staff.

Preventing needlestick injuries – Spurred by the passage of a needlestick bill sponsored by the Representative that now requires private healthcare facilities to take steps to minimize needlestick injuries, this bill would direct the Department of Public Health (DPH) to promulgate similar regulations requiring all state, county and municipal public health facilities to take such precautions.