Ohio nurses demand action on nurse-to-patient ratio bill

Apr. 29—Ohio nurses and a grieving local family are pushing for what they say is an integral workplace safety law that has gone untouched since it was introduced to the legislature seven months ago.

The state law was proposed in honor of Kate Smith, a Dayton-area nurse who wrote a scathing rebuke of the nursing industry before she died by suicide in August 2023.

"We're turning into activists. My purpose is to save lives," said Ron Smith, the father of Kate, during a rally at the Ohio Statehouse last week. He was joined by his two surviving daughters and over a hundred working nurses and advocates to pressure lawmakers into advancing House Bill 285, which seeks to establish minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals across Ohio and eradicate some of the industry hardships that negatively impacted his late daughter.

Under the bill, a nurse could only be assigned one patient in emergency trauma units or operating units; two patients in critical care units; three patients in emergency departments or combined childbirth units; and five patients in many other specialty care units.

Many bedside nurses in Ohio are overworked, according to a survey from the Ohio Nurses Association, which organized the event.

Signs throughout the Statehouse atrium last week attempted to put that plight into perspective: Seven out of 10 direct care nurses are considering leaving the bedside; 58% of nurses left the bedside due to patient care loads; 42% of those nurses would come back if Ohio law required minimum staffing standards.

"We want to make sure that our nurses are not being burned out or leaving the profession," said Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg, who introduced the bill alongside Toledo Democrat Rep. Elgin Rogers. "(We want to make sure) they're having the opportunity to process the things that they're seeing."

"It's a bipartisan bill but it has great opposition," Rogers told the Dayton Daily News. "There are folks who are concerned about how you're going to pay for this. It takes the control out of the hospitals, it takes control away and, again, it's a bill that's asking for equity and fairness."

Rogers believes discontent among the GOP has been the main reason why H.B. 285 hasn't moved forward. "It's a very, very challenging time in the legislature when we have a party that's fighting amongst itself," he said.

Rep. Tom Young, R-Washington Twp., sits on the House Health Provider Services Committee where the bill is stalled. He said the delay is not an indication that no one is paying attention to the bill.

"Obviously, Columbus is kind of backlogged with everything," he said. Young explained that it's a critical issue, but questions whether the legislature should get involved in regulating a free market issue.

"It deserves a hearing to start discussions, but at this point, I don't know how we solve the nursing shortage over the short to medium time frame," Young said.

Ghanbari said the time the bill has stalled in the committee has given himself and other sponsors the opportunity to round its bases.

"We've been meeting with some of the folks that have openly opposed the bill, the (Ohio) Hospital Association and others, trying to work toward a solution so that ... we can have our committee meetings and move forward," Ghanbari told the Dayton Daily News.

Due to the lack of hearings, there has been no public opponent nor proponent testimony filed on the bill. But, Ghanbari said the OHA views the staffing minimums as a "nonstarter," despite supporting other aspects of the bill, such as a provision that creates a loan-to-grant program to attract more nurses to the workforce.

The OHA told this news organization that H.B. 285 would harm hospitals' ability to provide care, especially amid a statewide staffing shortage.

"Mandated approaches to nurse staffing limit innovation, reduce the flexibility needed to respond to patients' changing care needs and increase stress on a health care system already facing an escalating workforce shortage," the OHA wrote in a statement.

Despite the opposition, Rogers said he's hopeful that the House will begin to have a conversation about the bill "thanks to the advocacy of the folks here today." He expects a committee hearing to be planned soon.

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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.

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