UPHS-Marquette is pictured. Hospital officials and a nurses’ union have differing opinions about a package of bills on patient care now making its way through the Michigan Leglslature. (Journal file photo)

MARQUETTE — Michigan nurses are supporting a measure to stop preventable patient deaths.

The state’s largest union for health care professionals, the Michigan Nurses Association, launched its campaign in support of the Safe Patient Care Act recently.

This act, as a bipartisan legislative plan, would limit the number of patients nurses can be assigned, curbs excessive mandatory nurse overtime and requires hospitals to disclose their RN-to-patient ratios.

“There is no law that limits the number of hospital patients an (RN) can be assigned to care for at one time. There’s also no law that limits the hours a nurse can be forced to work,” said the NMA website, misaferhospitals.org.

Paige Rubleski, a registered nurse featured in the ad campaign, said these changes “will save lives.”

Another nurse stated, “I want to provide the high standard of care that all of my patients expect and deserve, but I’m only human … caring for too many patients at once and being forced to work 16 hours makes it impossible to provide the best care.”

The University of Michigan’s published, peer-reviewed survey of over 9,000 Michigan nurses reveals the scope of their concerns. When mandatory overtime is frequently used, nurses are 72% more likely to have left the profession within the past two years, nearly 40% of Michigan nurses say they plan to leave their job within the next year, 83% of currently practicing nurses say adequate staffing is their main concern and 84% of currently practicing nurses report emotional exhaustion.

A spokeswoman for UP Health System-Marquette raised concerns surrounding the Safe Patient Care Act. UPHS-Marquette has a unique role as a regional referral center, often accepting patient transfers from other Upper Peninsula hospitals “in the best interest of a patient requiring livesaving care,” said Janell Larson, UPHS-Marquette director of marketing and communications.

Larson said UPHS-Marquette management personnel consider a variety of factors when adjusting staffing: clinical expertise, number of current patients, severity of patient sickness and skills/experience of staff.

“These bills surrounding the Safe Patient Care Act would prevent us from accepting patient transfers, putting both the patient and the referring hospital at risk,” Larson said. “We must have the flexibility to do what is best not just for our patients, but also the patients across the U.P. who require our assistance … more patients will be at risk of severe outcomes because they will face longer delays in receiving care.”

She noted that the bill lacks provisions to allow UPHS to manage a mass influx or multiple trauma incidents. “As the region’s Level 2 trauma center, we are obligated to accept those trauma patients to our facility. This bill would prevent us from doing so without facing steep financial penalties,” Larson added. “This bill … creates a one-size-fits-all cookie-cutter mandate for all hospitals in Michigan, regardless of size or location.”

But a registered nurse disagreed.

“Too many people are dying unnecessarily because we’re being forced to take care of an unsafe number of patients by out-of-touch health care executives who put profits first,” said James Walker. “Our loved ones and our communities deserve better. It is urgent for our communities to hear directly from nurses about what is really happening in hospitals.”

Currently, bills in the package are sponsored in the state House and Senate:

≤ Limit the number of patients a nurse can be assigned: Rep. Stephanie Young, D-Detroit, House Bill 4550; and Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, Senate Bill 334.

≤ Curb forced RN overtime: Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City, House Bill 4551; and Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, Senate Bill 335.

≤ Require hospitals to release their actual RN-to-patient ratios: Rep. Carrie Rheingans, D-Ann Arbor, House Bill 4552; and Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, Senate Bill 336.

The bills are awaiting committee action in both chambers.

Alexandria Bournonville can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 506. Her email address is abournonville@miningjournal.net.