Safe Staffing CT
Safe Staffing CT
Of the 86,483 nurses that have a current license in Connecticut, only 44,086 are actively practicing in Connecticut (ctdata.org).
YOU can help pass safe staffing legislation in CT this year!
A nurse staffing bill with safe patient ratios for nurses AND nursing assistants has been proposed by the public health committee- S.B. 1067.
What happens next?
We need the Public Health Committee to raise the bill for a public hearing and pass the bill out of the committee.
We need as many nurses as possible to submit testimony to keep this bill moving forward. The public hearing date has not yet been announced, but one likely date is Wednesday, March 22. When the official date is announced, you will have a couple days to upload written testimony, or sign up to give live testimony in person or over zoom. Your testimony can be as simple as “I’m a CT nurse and I 100% support this bill!” This is also your chance to offer critiques of the bill.
If the Public Health Committee members pass the bill out of committee, the bill will go to the senate and house floor for our representatives to vote on it. Amendments to the bill can also be made along the way.
The Human Services Committee is also reviewing a bill that addresses safe staffing conditions in nursing homes.
How do I get my representative to vote YES on this legislation?
Send a message to your state representative, state senator, and the chairs of the Public Health Committee in less than 1 minute at www.safestaffingct.com!
Or send your own personalized message to your state representative, state senator, and the members of the public health committee with the tips below!
This tool will show you who represents you in the CT House, Senate, and nationally. Each representative should have a link to their website and from there you can find the "contact" page which will allow you to send a message to let them know which issues are important to you (this is important because this is one way that representatives can hear the voices of the people and determine which bills or issues need their support). There are also phone numbers provided if you feel comfortable calling and leaving a voice message. If you are a super star, you can propose a meeting with your rep and a group of your colleagues.
Send your email to your state representative and their legislative aid listed under their contact info. After sending your email to your state rep, copy and paste it to your state senator and to the chairs of the public health committee!
The Public Health Committee page lists the members of the committee (click “Committee Membership” at the top of the page), agendas of upcoming meetings, and a link to submit testimony to the committee. You can subscribe to get information about upcoming events and information about the committee.
The CGA website, is the home base where CT residents can access information about their representatives, current and past bills, and various committees.
Copy and Paste this Sample Letter Template!
Dear Senator/Representative,
My name is {name}, I am a {registered nurse} working at {hospital} in Connecticut. I am reaching out to ask for your assistance in supporting HB-6535 An Act Establishing Minimum Staffing Ratios for Nurses in Health Care Facilities. Safe staffing ratios are essential for the safety of patients as well as the people caring for them. Safe staffing levels help improve patient outcomes, reduce sentinel events such as falls, and provide for an overall healthier Connecticut.
{You may add a short story about your personal experience – be mindful to avoid patient identifiers. Keep this very short and succinct (about 200-300 words), you may tell a longer story during the public testimony hearing. This letter is to get a general idea of the number of constituents who are in support of this bill}.
I appreciate your help and would request that you send me a response indicating your support for HB-6535.
Respectfully,
{name, credentials}
{home address}
Understanding the Issue:
There is no nursing shortage, just a shortage of nurses willing to work in these dangerous and demoralizing conditions.
CTNU is fighting for safe staffing legislation out of grave concern for our community members admitted to the hospital. Due to the current crisis is healthcare staffing, patients are being neglected in CT hospitals. Any level of staffing below a safe minimum leads to increased risk of medication errors, hospital acquired infections, falls, higher readmission rates, and increased mortality for our friends and family. If we required hospitals to staff at a minimum safe level of nursing staff, someone would be able to respond to your loved one in a timely manner if they called for help of if their heart monitor began to alarm.
There are currently 86,483 licensed nurses in CT, but only 44,086 are actively practicing as a nurse in CT (ctdata.org). Hospitals will tell you that there is a shortage of nurses to hire, but this is not true. The staffing shortage is not due to a shortage of nurses. The staffing shortage is a direct result of hospital management’s lean staffing models that prioritize profits over patients. Every day, nurses are assigned more duties than what one person can possibly fulfill, and when nurses don’t have time to care for patients properly, patients suffer the consequences. Lean staffing models gamble with patient lives and cause moral injury to nurses who want to help people but feel like they failed to do so every shift. Nurses are leaving their positions at record high turnover rates. Nursing schools in CT are producing more nurses than ever before, but if we can not retain nurses in CT, any investment in nursing education will be money wasted.
The US spends more money on healthcare per capita than any other high income country in the world, but this money isn’t reaching patients.
In 2020, the CEO of Yale New Haven Health received a total compensation package of $4.2 million.
In 2021, the CEO of Cigna, who provides health insurance for YNHH employees, received $19.8 million.
In 2021 a 23 year old young man died in the Yale Emergency Department after being neglected for 7 hours.
Yale ED nurses are regularly required to take 6-9 patients when they should be taking no more than 4.
California successfully passed safe staffing legislation in 1999 and since then, CA produces the best outcomes for patients. We urge our representatives to protect our loved ones in the hospital by passing legislation that would require healthcare executives to meet minimum safe staffing levels in CT hospitals. Our lives depend on it.The US spends more money on healthcare per capita than any other high income country in the world, but this money isn’t reaching patients.