Nurses across Pennsylvania are uniting to advocate for safe staffing, quality care, and a voice for nurses in the decisions about our patients and profession.
Our experience as frontline nurses, teaches us that our laws and lawmakers have a great impact on the health of our patients and on the kind of care we deliver. And right now, too many of them aren’t with us. Though we didn’t train to be advocates in politics, we know that patient advocacy means speaking up everywhere decisions about healthcare and nursing are being made.
Check the list of upcoming events
Our Fight for Safe Staffing in Pennsylvania
Safe Staffing in Pennsylvania’s Hospitals
Hospital care is in crisis. With fewer nurses, less ancillary staff, more patients, sicker patients, more paperwork, and record-high levels of burnout and turnover – now more than ever, it is nearly impossible for nurses to provide quality care. It’s not safe for our patients, and we’re not ready to risk our licenses or your loved ones’ lives any longer.
We call on legislators to recognize this crisis, co-sponsor the Patient Safety Act (HB 106 / Senate Bill 240) for safe staffing in PA’s hospitals, and to give nurses and patients the respect and safety we deserve.
Sign our petition if you agree.
Safe Staffing in Pennsylvania’s Nursing Homes
We have take a historic step toward safe staffing in nursing homes! The PA Department of Health announced a proposal to update the staffing standard to nursing homes to require 4.1 hours of direct care per patient per day, up from the paltry 2.7 hours required by our regulations that haven’t been updated in 25 years.
We’ve never been this close to winning safe staffing for nursing homes, but we haven’t won yet. This is a step in a review process before this regulation could take effect, but it’s a big step.
Below, you can find a summary of where we are in the review process, and what’s to come. We just completed a 30 day public comment period where advocates submitted over 5,600 comments in support of 4.1!
Nurses are united in our support for the Patient Safety Act.
COVID didn’t create this problem, it exposed a crisis that was already there.
About Nurses of Pennsylvania
Nurses of Pennsylvania is an organization of, by and for nurses focused on improving the beside care nurses provide. PA nurses work in cities and small towns, at large hospitals, in nursing homes and more – tied together by their commitment to their patients, their families and their communities. United for quality care, Nurses of Pennsylvania is focused on leading the state to a healthcare system that puts patients first.
Breaking Point: Pennsylvania’s Patient Care Crisis
We surveyed 1,000 nurses who work in hospitals, schools, rehabilitation facilities, long-term care and more — from Scranton to Erie to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia — and the results show a clear crisis in patient care with nurses spending less time at the bedside, chronic understaffing, and high turnover.
