HB 4482 Summary

• Requires hospitals to maintain sufficient registered professional nursing staff to ensure patient safety and develop written staffing plans within 3 years (4 years for rural hospitals).

• Establishes mandatory minimum nurse-to-patient ratios for specific hospital units, ranging from 1:1 in intensive care and operating rooms to 1:5 in rehabilitation care, to be maintained at all times including during breaks and absences.

• Mandates creation of unit-level staffing committees with at least half registered nurse members to develop staffing strategies, with nurse participation considered part of their regular workweek and protected from retaliation.

• Prohibits hospitals from including non-direct care nurses in ratio calculations, averaging ratios across shifts, or using mandatory overtime to meet staffing requirements except in unforeseen emergencies.

• Subjects violating hospitals to administrative fines of $10,000-$25,000 per violation (or $25,000-$50,000 for patterns of violations), requires corrective action plans, and mandates public posting of hospital violations on the department website.