Patient safety bill signed into law

New federal legislation will make it easier for hospitals to report medical errors and improve the quality of healthcare and patient safety. The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 establishes a national network of patient safety organizations maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for hospitals to report medical mistakes.

The reports will be voluntary and confidential, and the patient safety organizations will use the information to develop ways to improve patient safety and reduce medical errors.

The new law also contains strong whistleblower protection to prevent loss of a job, promotion or work-related benefits for nurses and health professionals who, in good faith, report errors to a patient safety organization. In addition, it provides a right of civil court action to protect healthcare workers. State employees also are covered in the provision. The AFT, along with other healthcare unions, worked diligently to assure these new protections were included in the final legislation. President Bush signed the bill into law on July 29.

The house version of legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act “goes backwards on grant availability, backwards on loan affordability and backwards on academic freedom,” says AFT president Edward J. McElroy.

In July, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce wrapped up its work on H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005. During the bill’s markup, AFT allies on the committee addressed some objectionable aspects of the bill, offering amendments to increase the maximum Pell Grant, lower the interest rate cap on student loans, allow loan consolidation at fair and reasonable rates, protect students from fraud and abuse at the hands of the for-profit education industry, and strike so-called “academic bill of rights” language threatening academic freedom.

For the most part, however, Republican leaders consistently blocked those amendments. Where the AFT prevailed, it did so by working with the National Education Association and a student aid coalition called Keep Integrity. For example, the bill retains restrictions—albeit watered down—in the form of the 90/10 rule, stipulating that at least 10 percent of colleges’ income must come from nonfederal sources.

The AFT is gearing up for an intensive effort in the next few weeks to influence both the Senate’s bill and the floor vote in the House.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill in June that requires hospitals and nursing homes to adopt and implement policies for patient handling and movement, making it the first state in the nation to do so. The new law will take effect in January 2006.

At a minimum, the law will require education of nurses in the identification, assessment and control of injury risks to patients and nurses during handling; an evaluation of alternative ways to reduce risks, including evaluation of equipment and the environment; an analysis of the risk of injury to patients and nurses during patient handling, and the physical environment in which the handling takes place; and procedures for nurses to refuse patient handling in situations the nurse believes will expose a patient or nurse to unacceptable risk. The text of S.B. 1525 is available at www.capitol.state.tx.us. Enter the bill number under the 79th regular session, 2005.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed several measures over the summer designed to protect the rights of nurses working in the state.

“We have a problem in Illinois—we don’t have enough nurses,” the governor said. “We have to do everything we can to increase their numbers. That’s why I’m signing legislation today that will help us recruit and retain these highly skilled professionals. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. And being able to attract and keep the best nurses will make a difference in the long-term picture of healthcare in Illinois.”

Blagojevich signed S.B. 201, which eliminates mandatory overtime for nurses except in public emergencies. If nurses must work overtime, they may not work more than four hours beyond their regularly scheduled work shift. In addition, a nurse may not be punished for refusing to work overtime.

The governor also signed H.B. 399, which creates the Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act, requiring designated state facilities to create a two-year pilot program to implement a violence protection plan and staff education program by July 2006. A task force will evaluate the program after the two-year period.

Another bill would eliminate the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools examination to make it faster for nurses trained outside the United States to enter the work force here.