Washington state recently passed a bill focused on ensuring hospital staffing standards, but nurses and unions say an issue remains unsolved: the backlog of staffing complaints, according to a May 29 report from The Columbian and Crosscut.
From 2020 to 2022, about 185 hospital staffing complaints were filed to the state's Department of Health. None of them resulted in fines, according to the report.
The new law does not mandate a staff-to-patient ratio; it requires hospital staffing committees to recommend ratio rules to their leadership and executives to make adjustments before submitting the plan to state officials. If a hospital falls below 80 percent compliance and does not institute corrective plans given from the state, the facility can face a monthly fine of up to $50,000.
Currently, there are thousands of complaints piling on the desks of hospital staffing committees, according to the news outlets.
At one Washington hospital, a nurse's complaint said staffing issues are "an upper management hospital 'culture' problem,'" and hectic days "are putting the health and safety of not only our patients, but also my staff, of whom I am trying to protect, at increased and unnecessary risk."
The hospital is St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale, part of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, which noted 31 staffing complaints in 2022 and where a nurse called 911 that fall asking for EMS teams to help with an overcrowded ED. Its chief nursing officer is stepping down in June.
The Department of Health cleared the nurse's complaint 11 days after receiving it because, "based on the information provided, no violation of hospital law occurred," according to reports obtained by Crosscut.
"As a health system committed to providing high-quality and safe care, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health takes all complaints seriously," Kelly Campbell, vice president of marketing and communications at the system, told Becker's. "We have a standard process in place at all of our hospitals to review and immediately address patient concerns."
Dianne Aroh, RN, senior vice president and chief nursing officer of Virginia Mason Franciscan, told Becker's the system "is excited about the promise of this legislation to help us continually improve hospital staffing processes."