SB283

What it does

• Sets maximum patient-to-nurse ratios for different hospital units, including emergency departments, intensive care, operating rooms, labor and delivery, oncology, psychiatric, pediatrics, and hemodialysis units.
• Requires hospitals to write a staffing plan that includes minimum staff levels, the mix of nurse skills needed, and the number of supportive direct patient care personnel required for each unit.
• Mandates that at least 51 percent of the committee members who approve staffing plans must be registered nurses working directly with patients in nonsupervisory roles.
• Prohibits counting remote workers, coordinators not providing direct care, or artificial intelligence as part of the required on-site nursing staff.
• Allows hospitals to temporarily break these rules only during unforeseen emergencies that jeopardize patient safety, severe weather preventing nurse relief, or declared rural staffing shortages.