This is Randy Homan with Becker's Clinical Leadership Podcast.
Here's your industry news brief for Wednesday, May 31st. First,
legislation about healthcare staffing remains under consideration in some
states. Two governors recently signed bills into law.
Last week,
Minnesota passed an edited bill titled The Nurse and Patient Safety Act.
It focuses on workplace violence prevention, nurse burnout,
and loan forgiveness. It cuts staffing legislation from the bill completely.
In New Jersey,
a bill sitting in committee would establish minimum RN staffing standards.
This would impact hospitals, ambulatory surgery facilities,
and certain DHS services. Last month,
Washington Governor j Insley signed SB 5 2 36.
It requires hospitals to report at least 80% compliance with its specific ratio.
Its internal staffing committee approves its ratio that focuses on nurse to
patient staffing.
Hospitals that do not comply are subject to corrective action plans and fines as
much as $50,000 every month.
Connecticut lawmakers were considering a bill to mandate nurse staffing ratios
and hospitals. However,
legislators are now focusing on strengthening hospital staffing committees.
A new proposed amendment would require hospital admin to get approval from the
hospital staffing committee before sending annual staffing plans to Connecticut
officials. Second,
the San Jose Police Department says a man in custody died last week after
falling 20 feet from a window at a California hospital.
The man was in custody for violating a court order.
He was admitted to O'Connor Hospital in San Jose for a preexisting medical
condition.
Around 2:00 AM the man threatened to strike an officer and nurse in his room
with a metal oxygen tank. The officer and nurse left the room to get help.
At that time, the man used the tank to break a window and jump onto a ledge.
He fell from the ledge.
He was provided immediate medical care and was transported to a nearby trauma
hospital. He was later pronounced dead.
The Santa Clara County DA's office in the San Jose PDs homicide unit
launched a joint criminal investigation into the incident.
Beckers has reached out to O'Connor Hospital for comment.
We'll update the online article if more information becomes available.
Third, new research from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds out racism and
discrimination from both patients and colleagues are widespread in the nursing
industry. However, you nurses report these incidents. Last year,
a non-probability sample of almost 1000 nurses were surveyed.
Almost 80% of nurses say they have witnessed or experienced discrimination from
patients. 60% say the same from a colleague.
Black slash African-American nurses.
Are the most likely to have seen or experienced racism from both patients or
colleagues.
About 40% of nurses say they've talked about incidents of racism or
discrimination with their supervisors. However,
less than 25% formerly report these incidents.
While the prevalence with still high nurses working at a physician's office or
clinic,
we're less likely to witness or experience racism compared to those working in
nursing homes or hospitals.
Over 40% of nurses say their nursing school had a culture of racism and
discrimination over half.
Also say there should be more training for racial bias and diversity inclusion.
Most nurses say their organizations prioritize D E I initiatives around patient
outcomes and staffing. Some highlight the need for more training and investment.
About 80% of nurses give examples for retaining a diverse nursing staff.
This includes zero tolerance, workplace discrimination policies,
clear consequences for reported incidents, and reporting anonymously.
Fourth, in two years,
about 185 hospital staffing complaints were filed to Washington's Department of
Health. None resulted in fines.
Washington's new bill ensures hospital staffing standards.
It does not mandate the staff to patient ratio. Instead,
it requires hospital staffing committees to recommend ratio rules to their
leadership before submitting the plan to state officials.
One example of under staffing is St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale.
The hospital is part of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.
It received over 30 staffing complaints last year.
It was also where a nurse called 9 1 1 asking for e EMS teams to help.
With its overcrowded. Its chief nursing officer is stepping down next month.
It only took 11 days for the Department of Health to clear the complaint.
It states that based on the information provided,
no violation of hospital law occurred. Fifth,
as the shortages for cancer drugs grow worse,
some oncologists are rationing the drugs and delay treatment.
As of last week, the FDA list 14 cancer drugs in shortage.
One is carboplatin.
It's a chemotherapy agent and used as a first line treatment for multiple
cancers.
A survey from the Society of Gynecologic Oncology shows physicians in at least
40 states had at least one chemotherapy drug and shortage.
Some shortages are due to a single manufacturer in India halted production.
After quality concerns,
the FDA is working with other manufacturers to have more carboplatin.
Thanks for listening.
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