/ en Fri, 18 Apr 2025 01:03:03 -0500 Thu, 16 Sep 21 13:42:50 -0500 Thu, 16 Sep 2021 13:42:50 -0500 Staffing Ratios /news/voice/advocating-for-autonomy <h3>ONL’s Efforts in the Massachusetts Staffing Ratio Ballot Campaign</h3> <p>Never underestimate the power and influence of intelligent, aligned and impassioned nurses on a mission to educate the public about nursing practice and excellence in health care. During the run-up to the Massachusetts November 2018 election, a contentious public debate over a nurse ratio ballot referendum occurred throughout the state. Massachusetts nurse leaders strategically guided critical conversations with stakeholders across the care continuum and in every community about the proposed legislation’s impact on care delivery.</p> <p>Developing the nursing voice was a critical component in the campaign that ultimately defeated the nurse staffing ratio ballot question by a 40 percent margin with 70 percent voting no and 30 percent voting yes (Ballotpedia, 2018). This article describes the movement within the Massachusetts nursing community during the 2018 election where nurses stood up for their professional practice and autonomy and became politically active—many for the first time.</p> <h3>History</h3> <p>For the past 20 years a nursing union in Massachusetts has proposed legislation to require mandatory nurse staffing ratios in all acute and post-acute care hospitals. During this time, legislators came to appreciate the complexity of this proposed legislation and understood the significant implications to health care access and cost. Despite continuous advocacy from the union, the legislature has not passed a nurse staffing law in Massachusetts. In a continued effort to advance nurse staffing ratios, the union completed the required process to place the issue on the ballot for the 2018 election.</p> <p>The complex, six-page nurse staff ratio proposal would come down to a yes or no vote by the general public. The ballot question placed a limit on the number of patients a single nurse could be assigned at a time and imposed a $25,000 fine on hospitals that violate those ratios. The exact ratios would vary depending on the hospital department and the type of patients for which the nurse was caring.</p> <p>While legislators had years to hear stakeholders input and consider the implications of mandatory nurse staffing ratios, the voters would have mere months to learn about nursing practice, nurse staffing norms and hospital throughput. The ballot question ignited an intense debate on both sides of the issue, capturing the full attention of voters across the state.</p> Tue, 17 Dec 2019 17:28:08 -0600 Staffing Ratios /resources/policy-statement-nurse-staffing Mon, 22 Apr 2019 15:52:05 -0500 Staffing Ratios