SB182

Existing law requires certain hospitals in a county whose population is 100,000 or more (currently Clark and Washoe Counties) to establish a staffing committee, which must consist, in part, of certain nurses who are on the staff of the hospital. (NRS 449.242) Existing law requires a hospital and certain other health care facilities in such counties to develop a documented staffing plan which must include certain items, such as the number of nurses required in each unit of the hospital and protocols for adequately staffing the hospital upon the occurrence of certain events. (NRS 449.2421) If the health care facility is a hospital, existing law requires the staffing committee established for the hospital to develop the staffing plan. (NRS 442.242) Sections 5 and 6 of this bill require each hospital that is required to establish a staffing committee for nurses to additionally establish a technical staffing committee and a service staffing committee, respectively, to represent the technical and service workers of the hospital. Sections 18-20 of this bill make conforming changes to refer to existing staffing committees for nurses as “nursing staffing committees.” Sections 5, 6 and 18 require the technical staffing committee, the service staffing committee and the nursing staffing committee to collaborate to develop the documented staffing plan for the hospital. Section 19 requires a documented staffing plan to contain certain provisions relating to the adequate staffing of technic