Existing law provides for the licensure of various health facilities, including general acute care hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, and special hospitals, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires the department to assess an administrative penalty of $15,000 for the first violation and $30,000 for the second and each subsequent violation if the department determines that a specified health facility has violated nurse-to-patient ratios, as specified. Under existing law, an acute general hospital is not subject to this administrative penalty if the hospital demonstrates it has met specified requirements, including that any fluctuation in required staffing levels was unpredictable and uncontrollable, prompt efforts were made to maintain required staffing levels, and the hospital immediately used and subsequently exhausted the hospital's on-call list of nurses and the charge nurse.
This bill would require, as part of meeting the above requirements, that the hospital provide the department with documentation that it used and exhausted the on-call list, as defined. The bill would require the on-call list to be at least 10% of the registered nurse staff for the hospital, and require all nurses assigned to an on-call list to possess and maintain verified competencies specific to the unit for which they are on call.

Statutes affected:
SB 596: 1280.3 HSC
02/20/25 - Introduced: 1280.3 HSC