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S 2700

Establishes "Patient Protection and Safe Staffing Act."

2024-2025 Regular Session Introduced by Renee Burgess and 13 co-sponsors

Establishes minimum RN-to-patient and UAP-to-patient ratios in hospitals, with an acuity-based system to boost safety, care quality, and reduce nurse burnout.

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee
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Bill Summary · S 2700

Summary — S 2700: "Patient Protection and Safe Staffing Act"

Note on source material: the provided document includes material from multiple drafts and jurisdictions (including a New Jersey-style staffing bill, a Massachusetts charter amendment, and U.S. Senate procedural entries). This summary focuses on the substantive Patient Protection and Safe Staffing provisions contained in the introduced draft (the “Patient Protection and Safe Staffing Act”) as provided.

Purpose and intent

The bill establishes minimum safe staffing standards for registered professional nurses (RNs) and unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) in hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities, and certain State-run developmental and psychiatric hospitals. It aims to improve patient safety and care quality by setting minimum nurse-to-patient and assistive-staff-to-patient ratios and by requiring acuity-based staffing systems.

Key definitions

  • Commissioner: Commissioner of Health (state).
  • Department: Department of Health.
  • Direct care registered professional nurse: an RN assigned to provide direct patient care in a specific unit.
  • Unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP): unlicensed staff who perform delegated nursing tasks under RN supervision.

Key provisions

  • Regulatory authority: The Commissioner of Health must adopt regulations establishing minimum RN-to-patient and UAP-to-patient ratios for patient units in covered facilities. Regulations may not reduce any ratios already in effect.
  • Required minimum RN-to-patient ratios (at minimum):
    • Medical/surgical: 1 RN : 4 patients
    • Step-down/telemetry/progressive/intermediate care: 1 RN : 3 patients
    • Emergency department: 1 RN : 4 patients (with 1:2 in ED critical care and 1:1 in ED trauma)
    • Behavioral health/psychiatric unit: 1 RN : 5 patients
    • Critical care/intensive care/neonatal/burn: 1 RN : 2 patients
    • Operating room: 1 RN per patient under anesthesia; Post-anesthesia recovery: 1 RN per patient
    • Labor & delivery: 1 RN : 3 patients
    • Postpartum (mother+infant rooming): 1 RN : 4 patients (including infants); mothers-only unit: 1 RN : 6 patients
    • Pediatric/intermediate care nursery: 1 RN : 4 patients; well-baby nursery: 1 RN : 6 patients
  • Minimum UAP-to-patient ratios:
    • Day shift: 1 UAP : 7 patients
    • Night shift: 1 UAP : 11 patients
  • Acuity-based staffing system:
    • Facilities must employ an acuity and staffing system approved by the Commissioner to increase staffing above minimums as needed.
    • System must be based on patient acuity/classification, nurse specialty standards, skill mix, other personnel, and agency/temporary use.
    • The facility’s nursing department must establish the system with majority approval of unit staff nurses or with the collective bargaining agent’s approval.
    • System must allow forecasting, include objective data (case-mix, diagnoses, LOS, admissions/discharges/transfers), account for operational factors (unit design, admission/discharge rates), and include contingency plans (e.g., bed closures) and policies for float/agency staff.
  • Waivers: The system must permit temporary waivers of minimums in unforeseen emergent circumstances (text truncated—details not available).

Who is affected

  • Covered facilities: general and special hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities, State developmental centers, and State psychiatric hospitals.
  • Directly affected personnel: registered professional nurses, unlicensed assistive personnel, nursing leadership, and collective bargaining units.
  • Indirectly affected: patients (expected safety/quality benefits), hospital administration (staffing operations and costs), state health regulators.

Procedural status (as provided)

  • Introduced: September 3, 2025.
  • Referred to committee (various entries mention Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and state-level committees).
  • Multiple procedural actions listed through November 2025 (readings, substitution, engrossment); material indicates the bill has been circulated in committee and had substitutive drafts. Exact current status and jurisdictional path are unclear from the provided materials.

Implementation, enforcement, and fiscal impacts

  • The draft mandates regulatory rulemaking and facility-level system changes; expected fiscal impacts include increased staffing costs for facilities and potential need for hiring/training. Anticipated benefits include reduced nurse burnout, turnover, and improved patient outcomes. Specific enforcement mechanisms, penalties, compliance timelines, and cost estimates are not included in the truncated text and would affect final impact.

If you want, I can:
- Produce a one-page fact sheet for facility administrators estimating likely staffing increases and costs, or
- Draft a short explainer for nurses and patient advocates summarizing practical effects.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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