Research legislation that has occurred within the last 5 years at the state or federal level as a result of nurse advocacy. Describe the legislation and what was accomplished. What additional steps need to be taken to continue advocacy for this issue?

Describe the Legislation and what was Accomplished

The ANA (American Nurse Association) appreciates the House of Representatives and US Senate for introducing the Safe Staffing for Nurse and Patient Safety Act in 2018. The Act obligates healthcare facilities to form committees with 55% direct care nurses to implement a standardized plan of nurse-patient ratio (McClendon and Farbman, 2018). The plan is very important to patients, hospitals, and registered nurses by decreasing nurse turnover, costly hospital readmissions, and adverse health events. Organized staffing helps in lowering the risk of death, protects the patients from preventable complications, and keeps the patients safe. Nursing is just the same as medication. Nobody would hold medication knowing that it would help a lot of people.

According to research, increasing the number of nurses according to the Act has contributed to less patient stay in the facility. It can also reduce the probability of a patient having adverse effects like bleeding, injuries, and infections (McClendon and Farbman, 2018). The Act considers nurses’ experience, workflow, resources, transfers, discharges, and technology.

What Additional Steps Need To Be Taken To Continue Advocacy For This Issue?

The sponsors, Rep. Dave Joyce(R-OH) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) of the Act and ANA, have supported and advocated for the Act because of its clinical and economic value. ANA advocates for the Act on the federal and state levels since the Act is a top priority. There is a need to ensure that the Act is enacted in other places. The legislation has already been absorbed in Washington, Texas, Orion, Ohio, Nevada, Illinois, and Connecticut (McClendon and Farbman, 2018). Thus, other places need to be reached to ensure that all the health care facilities have fully synchronized the committee approach in their facilities. ANA is focused on providing a safe environment and interaction between the staff and patient.