‘Pro-patient piece of legislation;’ Ohio lawmakers introduce bill to address shortage of nurses

COLUMBUS — Nurses showed up at the Ohio Statehouse Wednesday to introduce a first-of-its-kind bill to help bring change to hospitals across the state.

The Nurse Workforce & Safe Patient Care Act would establish legally enforceable minimum staffing standards for nurses in all Ohio hospitals and incentivize people to go into the nursing field.

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“This is about patient care and patient safety,” State Representative Haraz Ghanbari (R-Perrysburg) said.

There are five main points representatives for the Ohio Nurses Association pushed for with the bill. One of those points is to create a $20 million Loan-to-Grant program for nurses who complete five years of nursing services in Ohio.

Ghanbari said this would be “to help pay for the education of our nurses in the Buckeye state.”

The second point would be to establish staffing standards in every Ohio hospital.

“This is essentially so every patient receives the care they deserve,” Ghanbari said.

The rest would be to create staffing committees, allow to temporarily stray from staffing ratios in extraordinary situations and to make a safe space for nurses’ complaints.

Those points fall under the association’s proposed Safe Staffing Standards Bill under the Workforce & Safe Patient Care Act.

“This is a pro-patient piece of legislation asking for reasonable staffing levels for our nurses,” State Representative Elgin Rogers (D-Toledo) said.

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As News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott reported Wednesday at 5 p.m., the association said nursing levels were already low prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and that staffing is still low.

More than 80 percent of nurses surveyed in the state said the lack of staffing is not only impacting them, but also their patients. 92 percent are tired, don’t eat, or take breaks while caring for people’s health.

In the Miami Valley, Sarah Hackenbracht, the President and CEO of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association, understands the demand for minimum staffing standards.

“In general, patient staffing ratios are challenging for hospitals,” Hackenbracht said.

She told McDermott that the problem has gotten better in recent years.

“There are those moments in times where there are ebbs and flows, and so our hospitals know that normal cycle and they built those staffing levels appropriately,” she said.

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