Policy & Advocacy
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New Nurse Staffing Law Implementation – Guidance
A new online Nurse Portal offers tools and resources to successfully implement the Nurse Staffing Improvement Act (Senate Bill 2153/Public Act 102-0641), which became law in August. Passage of the law was a significant advocacy success during the spring legislative session.
IHA—in collaboration with the American Nurses Association-Illinois, Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network and Illinois Organization of Nurse Leaders—worked together to pass the new law, which builds on the 2007 Nurse Staffing by Patient Acuity Act. The four organizations continue to collaborate by developing tools and resources for implementation.
The online Nurse Portal includes:
- Summaries of PA102-0641 in PowerPoint and PDF;
- Frequently Asked Questions about the law;
- Example agendas for the Nursing Care Committee;
- Example patient classification systems to evaluate acuity;
- Talking points to guide educational conversations with community members, or those outside of healthcare; and
- A self-assessment to measure your organization’s progress toward meeting the law’s requirements.
All documents and all webpages in the Nurse Portal are password-protected. If you already have an IHA website password, you have access to the portal and all documents. If you do not have an IHA password, you can register using this link. Direct care nurses can use the “Nurse Registration” button when registering.
The Nurse Staffing Improvement Act empowers direct care nurses through a greater role in staffing decisions. It is critically important that hospitals together with their direct care staff nurses collaborate on acuity-informed staffing approaches.
If you have any questions about implementation or would like to share resources for the Nurse Portal, please email us at NurseStaffing@team-iha.org
IONL Position Statements
Hot Topic: Staffing
Hot Topic: Nurse Licensure Compact
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