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AB1146: Bill Text
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2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-6478/1
SWB/MIM/KMS:emw
2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 1146
March 13, 2026 - Introduced by Representatives
Hong
,
Subeck
,
Bare
,
Sinicki
,
Tenorio
,
Joers
,
Snodgrass
,
Stubbs
,
Goodwin
,
Clancy
,
Miresse
,
Moore Omokunde
,
Arney
,
J. Jacobson
and
Hysell
, cosponsored by Senators
Larson
,
Ratcliff
,
Hesselbein
,
Wirch
,
Keyeski
,
Dassler-Alfheim
and
Roys
. Referred to Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care.
AB1146,1,5
1
An Act
to amend
111.322 (2m) (a) and 111.322 (2m) (b);
to create
50.374,
2
103.035, 106.54 (10) (c) and 146.998 of the statutes;
relating to:
minimum
3
nurse staffing ratios in hospitals, registered nurses’ right to refuse a work
4
assignment, prohibiting mandatory overtime for registered nurses, and
5
providing a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill requires hospitals to develop and adhere to a plan for staffing registered nurses. Under the bill, the nurse staffing plan must meet certain standards, including being created and approved by a nurse staffing committee, the majority of which must be registered nurses in nonsupervisory positions; reviewed annually by the hospital; provided to the Department of Health Services annually, by a deadline set by DHS; and posted in every unit of the hospital and on the DHS website. The bill establishes minimum nurse-to-patient ratios that the hospital must maintain for each unit in the hospital. Under the bill, hospitals must keep for at least three years records of its nurse staffing ratios and actual staffing numbers.
Under the bill, a hospital that fails to provide DHS with its nurse staffing plan by the deadline set by DHS is subject to a civil penalty of $25,000. In addition, a hospital that fails to form a nurse staffing committee, annually review its nurse staffing plan, annually submit its nurse staffing plan to DHS, or adhere to required nurse-to-patient staffing ratios must submit a corrective action plan to DHS. Under the bill, a hospital may be subject to a civil penalty of $5,000 for each day the hospital fails to submit or comply with a corrective action plan.
In addition, the bill provides that registered nurses have the right to refuse a work assignment if the nurse, in good faith and in the nurse’s professional judgment, finds that the nurse is unable to fulfill the assignment without compromising patient safety or the nurse’s license. The bill creates a cause of action for a nurse against a hospital that disciplines, discharges, retaliates, discriminates, takes adverse action, or files a complaint with a disciplinary agency against a nurse that refuses to complete an assignment under those circumstances.
Under current law, subject to certain exceptions, an employer must pay an employee who receives an hourly wage one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week, but current law, with exceptions under child labor laws, does not prohibit an employer from requiring an employee to work in excess of 40 hours per week.
This bill prohibits a hospital from requiring a registered nurse to work overtime. Under the bill, overtime is work in excess of any of the following: 1) a regularly scheduled predetermined shift immediately following that shift; 2) 12 hours in a 24-hour period; or 3) 40 hours in a scheduled workweek.
The prohibition on mandatory overtime under the bill does not apply in cases in which the registered nurse is involved in an ongoing surgical procedure, the registered nurse’s presence is essential to the health and safety of a patient, the nurse is working in a critical care unit, or a public health emergency has been declared by the president of the United States or the governor, or during periods of adverse weather, catastrophe, or widespread illness within the hospital.
A registered nurse who is discharged or discriminated against for refusing to work overtime or for opposing a practice prohibited under the bill, for filing a complaint or attempting to enforce a right provided under the bill, or for testifying or assisting in any action or proceeding to enforce such a right may file a complaint with the Department of Workforce Development, and DWD must process the complaint in the same manner that employment discrimination complaints are processed under current law.
For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
AB1146,1
1
Section
1
.
50.374 of the statutes is created to read:
AB1146,2,3
2
50.374
Hospital nurse staffing requirements.
(1)
Definitions.
In this
3
section:
AB1146,3,3
1
(a) “Direct patient care” means any direct patient contact or treatment,
2
including consultation, diagnostic tests and procedures, therapeutic procedures,
3
pathological analyses and reports, and any other direct medical or health services.
AB1146,3,5
4
(b) “Nurse staffing plan” means a plan developed and provided to the
5
department under sub. (2) (a).
AB1146,3,6
6
(c) “Registered nurse” has the meaning given in s. 146.40 (1) (f).
AB1146,3,9
7
(2)
Safe nurse staffing standards; nurse staffing plan.
(a) A hospital
8
shall provide to the department, by a date determined by the department, a nurse
9
staffing plan for the upcoming year.
AB1146,3,12
10
(b) A hospital shall, in its nurse staffing plan, provide for a collaborative
11
practice in the hospital that enhances patient care and the level of services provided
12
by nurses and other members of the hospital’s patient care team.
AB1146,3,13
13
(c) A hospital shall include all of the following in its nurse staffing plan:
AB1146,3,16
14
1. A written certification that the nurse staffing plan is sufficient to provide
15
adequate and appropriate delivery of health care services to patients during the
16
year.
AB1146,3,18
17
2. The hospital’s employment practices concerning the use of temporary and
18
traveling nurses.
AB1146,3,19
19
3. The hospital’s process for internal review of the nurse staffing plan.
AB1146,3,22
20
4. The hospital’s mechanism for obtaining input from staff that provide direct
21
patient care, including registered nurses and other members of the hospital’s
22
patient care team, in the development of the nurse staffing plan.
AB1146,4,2
1
5. The minimum registered nurse skill mix for each patient care unit in the
2
hospital, including inpatient, critical care, and emergency department staffing.
AB1146,4,4
3
6. The method used by the hospital to determine and adjust direct patient
4
care nurse staffing levels.
AB1146,4,6
5
7. The supporting personnel assisting on each patient care unit of the
6
hospital.
AB1146,4,8
7
8. The number of registered nurses providing direct patient care and the ratio
8
of registered nurses to patients in each care unit of the hospital.
AB1146,4,11
9
(d) A hospital shall provide in its nurse staffing plan that, at all times during
10
each shift within a hospital unit, a registered nurse providing direct patient care is
11
assigned to not more than the following number of patients in that hospital unit:
AB1146,4,12
12
1. Four patients in an emergency unit.
AB1146,4,13
13
2. Two patients in an intensive care emergency unit.
AB1146,4,14
14
3. Two trauma patients in a trauma emergency unit.
AB1146,4,15
15
4. Two patients in an intensive care unit.
AB1146,4,16
16
5. Three patients in a progressive care unit.
AB1146,4,17
17
6. Four patients in a telemetry unit.
AB1146,4,18
18
7. Five patients in a medical-surgical unit.
AB1146,4,19
19
8. Four patients in a pediatric unit.
AB1146,4,20
20
9. One patient in an operating room unit.
AB1146,4,21
21
10. Two patients in a postanesthesia care unit.
AB1146,4,22
22
11. Five patients in an oncology unit.
AB1146,4,23
23
12. Five patients in an orthopedic unit.
AB1146,5,1
1
13. Six patients in a psychiatry unit.
AB1146,5,2
2
14. Four patients in a labor obstetrics unit.
AB1146,5,3
3
15. Four patients in a postpartum obstetrics unit.
AB1146,5,4
4
16. Four patients in a nursery obstetrics unit.
AB1146,5,5
5
17. Two patients in a neonatal intensive care unit.
AB1146,5,7
6
(e) A hospital’s nurse staffing plan shall be approved by a majority vote of the
7
members of the hospital’s nurse staffing committee under sub. (3).
AB1146,5,9
8
(f) A hospital, in collaboration with its nurse staffing committee, shall
9
implement to the best of its ability the nurse staffing plan.
AB1146,5,15
10
(g) If staffing falls below the levels proposed in the nurse staffing plan for the
11
previous reporting period, a hospital shall include, in its nurse staffing plan for the
12
subsequent reporting period, a description of any differences between the staffing
13
levels described in the previous staffing plan and the actual staffing levels for each
14
patient care unit and any actions the hospital intends to take to address the
15
differences or adjust staffing levels in future staffing plans.
AB1146,5,18
16
(h) A hospital shall post its nurse staffing plan on each unit of the hospital in
17
a location that is visible, conspicuous, and accessible to staff, patients, and the
18
public.
AB1146,5,20
19
(i) The department shall post each hospital’s nurse staffing plan on the
20
department’s website.
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