A growing body of research shows that the care provided by registered nurses has a direct impact on quality of hospital care and patient safety. An aging population, advances in technology and declining lengths of stay have steadily increased patient acuity in hospitals.

Nursing care requires continuous patient assessment, critical thinking and expert judgment, advocating on behalf of our patients, and educating patients and their families. Those activities are the essence of nursing care and are critical factors in avoiding preventable complications, injuries and avoidable deaths.

When staffing levels are too low, RNs are frequently forced to compromise the care they give to their patients. Unsafe nurse staffing is a dangerous practice that leads to medical errors, poorer patient outcomes and nursing injuries as well as burnout. Ensuring safe nurse staffing has been a top priority for WSNA for the past several years.

View the research on safe nurse staffing and find out more about how staffing levels affect patient care on the 'References' page.

Safe Nurse Staffing Legislation

Years of advocacy and outreach paid off in 2007 with the passage of Safe Nurse Staffing Legislation (House Bill 3123). Highlights of the new law include:

• Each hospital, by September 2008, must establish a nurse staffing committee composed at least half direct care nurses. This committee will develop, oversee and evaluate a nurse staffing plan for each unit and shift of the hospital based on patient care needs, appropriate skill mix of registered nurses and other nursing personnel, layout of the unit, and national standards/recommendations on nurse staffing.
• If the staffing plan developed by the staffing committee is not adopted by the hospital, the CEO must provide a written explanation of the reasons why to the committee.
• The staffing information must be posted in a public area and must include the nurse staffing plan and the nurse staffing schedule, as well as the clinical staffing relevant to that unit. It must be updated at least once every shift and made available to patients and visitors upon request.

Find out more about the law and ongoing policy efforts on the 'About the Law' page.

Resources for Staffing Committees

With the Safe Nurse Staffing Legislation in place, every hospital must now begin the important and complex work of creating staffing committees and staffing plans. The passage of legislation was just the beginning of this process. WSNA is committed to providing ongoing support and resources so that the law can have the greatest impact.

WSNA is providing free trainings for members across the state. For more resources and information for nurses serving on staffing committees or interested in how the committees work, visit our 'Tool Kit' page for sample committee charters, staffing ratio grids, and more.