NEWS RELEASE: Whidbey General Hospital cited by Department of Health for violating state “Safe Nurse Staffing” law
Violations “may result in nurse staffing levels that do not support safe and effective patient care”
July 20, 2015 – The Washington State Department of Health has found that Whidbey General Hospital is violating the state’s “Safe Nurse Staffing” law, created in 2008 to ensure that hospitals and nurses work together to develop nurse staffing plans adequate to keep patients safe.
Last Thursday, in response to a complaint filed by the Washington State Nurses Association, DOH reported that WGH is in violation of state law by failing to “implement a Nurse Staffing Committee to develop and monitor a staffing plan” and by not giving nurses “an opportunity to present and discuss issues related to staffing.”
The DOH further commented that the failure to operationalize the Nurse Staffing Committee, with staff nurse input, “may result in nurse staffing levels that do not support safe and effective patient care.”
“We are disappointed but, sadly, not surprised that management at Whidbey General is failing to follow the ‘Safe Nurse Staffing.