Massachusetts Governor Signs Law Limiting Number of Patients Assigned to ICU RNs

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has signed into law legislation that establishes patient limits for registered nurses who work in all the state's hospital intensive care units.

The law will limit the number of patients assigned to a nurse — no nurse can be assigned more than one patient or in certain circumstances, no more than two patients based on the assessment of the nurses on that unit.

The Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives have both passed the bill. The Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United is in support for this legislation as they believe it will help improve patient safety. However, Massachusetts Hospital Association does not support the bill, fearing that it will drive up costs. 

"This measure will protect the most critically ill patients and it breaks the decade-long logjam on Beacon Hill over the issue of establishing an enforceable maximum limit on the number of patients a nurse can care for at one time. More importantly, it moves us closer to our ultimate goal, which is to extend safe patient limits beyond the ICUs to all other units of our hospitals to protect all patients," said Donna Kelly-Williams, RN, president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United.

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