The North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce announced it is joining the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety to oppose the proposed nurse staffing ballot question.
Proposed by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the ballot question would require hospitals across the state to set mandated staffing ratios, creating limits on the numbers of patients assigned to a nurse at one time.
Mark Wright, North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce executive director, said the proposal would have a negative impact on the local Athol community
“The proposal is poorly conceived and ill-advised, and would transfer critical decision-making out of the hands of healthcare professionals and into inflexible government formulas,” he said. “This ballot question would likely result in a decreased ability for hospitals to serve their communities, threatening the quality of care for our citizens.”
Wright said if passed, smaller hospitals, such as Athol Hospital, may have to refer patients elsewhere, and possibly even close its doors in the future.
According to the Committee to Ensure Safe Patient Care, the ballot initiative, the Patient Safety Act, would also decide maximum patient limits for each patient care area and require each unit, patient room and waiting room area to post the limits and how violations can be reported.
According to the committee, any facility that refuses to comply with the act will have to pay up to a $2,500 fine for each day they violate the law.
The policy change, according to a report commissioned by the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, which opposes the ballot question, would cost the healthcare system around $1.3 billion in the first year, and $900 million annually each year thereafter.
“There are no scientific studies or reports that demonstrate the effectiveness of government mandated, one-size-fits-all, nurse staffing ratio for improving quality of care, patient outcomes or professional nursing practice,” said Donna Glynn, president of the American Nurses Association.
But Kate Norton, spokeswoman for the Committee to Ensure Safe Patient Care, said limits on the numbers of patients nurses can be assigned to will increase patient safety. In the long run, the Patient Safety Act would reduce lengths of hospital stays, hospital-caused medial errors and readmissions, which would be more cost-effective for hospitals and patients, said Norton.
“Outside of ICU, there are no laws or standards in existence for the number of patients assigned to nurses, and there are no requirements for hospitals to provide an adequate level of nursing care in the emergency department, medical-surgical floors, maternity units or psychiatric units. That’s dangerous, pure and simple,” said Norton.