AONE weighs in on Mass. ballot initiative on mandated nurse staffing ratios
The AHA’s American Organization of Nurse Executives yesterday thanked a New England nurse leadership group for “advocating unrelentingly for patients, nurses and our health system” to defeat Question 1 on the Massachusetts ballot initiative.
“This proposition, if passed, would dramatically impact hospitals and health systems’ ability to provide safe, quality care in Massachusetts,” wrote AONE CEO Robyn Begley, DNP, R.N., in a letter to the Organization of Nurse Leaders Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont. “Its passage also would threaten the health care delivery systems of neighboring states.”
The proposed measure would put in place staffing ratios that would limit the number of patients a nurse could be assigned at a given time at Massachusetts hospitals and health clinics.
The Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association and every hospital in Massachusetts opposes Question 1. AHA has supported MHA and the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety, which includes more than 100 health care organizations, in their opposition to the ballot initiative.
“Hospitals and health systems across the country are working to advance patient safety, affordability and enhance value by transforming health care delivery through innovation and collaboration,” wrote Begley, who also is the AHA’s senior vice president and chief nursing officer. “Mandated approaches to nurse staffing limit this innovation and increase stress on a health care system already facing an escalating shortage of educated nurses.”