Nurse Staffing Plan submission

 

The Colorado legislature passed House Bill (HB) 22-1401, Hospital Nurse Staffing Standards, during the 2022 legislative session. This new law sought to ensure hospitals are prepared for a public health emergency or staffing shortage through the implementation of a robust nurse staffing committee and plan, comprehensive emergency management, and reporting on staffed-bed capacity data to the Department. The act requires every hospital to establish, by September 1, 2022, a nurse staffing committee pursuant to rules promulgated by the state board of health, either by creating a new committee or assigning the nurse staffing functions to an existing hospital staffing committee. The nurse staffing committee must have at least 60% or greater participation by clinical staff nurses. The nurse staffing committee is required to: Annually develop and oversee a master nurse staffing plan; Submit a recommended staffing plan to the hospital's senior nurse executive and governing body; and Receive, track, and resolve complaints and receive feedback from direct-care nurses and other staff. The act requires a hospital to: Submit the nurse staffing plan to the Department of Public Health and Environment (department) on an annual basis; Post the nurse staffing plan on the hospital's website; Evaluate the nurse staffing plan on a quarterly basis and, based on complaints and recommendations of patients and staff, revise the nurse staffing plan accordingly; and Prepare an annual report containing the details of the evaluation. With these requirements hospitals can submit the nurse staffing plan to cdphe_staffingplan@state.co.us   Your staffing plan submissions are due by 6/30/23.   Your next staffing plan submissions will be due to be submitted at the time of your relicensure.    If you have any questions, please reach out to Erica Brudjar at erica.brudjar@state.co.us