Kuehl to Hold Informal Hearing on Nurse Staffing Levels

State Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), sponsor of the law that requires minimum nurse staffing levels in hospitals, has scheduled an "informal" hearing on the issue "in conjunction" with a California Nurses Association event, the Oakland Tribune reports (Geissinger, Oakland Tribune, 9/3). In 1999, California enacted a law that requires the state Department of Health Services to establish minimum licensed nurse staffing ratios for all hospital units in addition to existing requirements for intensive care units and operating rooms (California Healthline, 10/12/99). According to the law, the state must set the ratio by January (California Healthline, 7/27). Kuehl has "endorsed" the one-to-three nurse-to-patient ratio supported by the California Nurses Association. The Service Employees International Union and Kaiser Permanente have proposed a one nurse to four patient ratio, and the California Healthcare Association supports a one nurse to 10 patient ratio. Kuehl has invited state officials to attend the hearing to "hear the stories of nurses trying to cope with current ratios" (Oakland Tribune, 9/3).

The Tribune reports that hospitals, labor unions and consumer groups have fought over the nurse staffing levels, a debate that experts predict will determine the "cost of health care for decades" and "literally determine how swiftly nurses are able to respond" to patients. Gov. Gray Davis (D), who will make the final decision on the ratio, "faces a thorny political quandary," with business and labor groups offering "conflicting" recommendations "on the eve of an election year" (Geissinger, Oakland Tribune, 9/3). The Tribune reports that the Davis administration may "end up exercising its option of phasing in" nurse staffing requirements over a number of years (Geissinger, Oakland Tribune, 9/3).