The Washington state senate passed a bill to address the health care staffing shortage by mitigating unmanageable patient loads and worker burnout.
Senate Bill 5236 sponsored by Senator June Robinson (D-Everett) will require hospitals to submit staffing plans to the Department of Health. The expected staff-to-patient staffing standards would be developed by a hospital’s designated nurse staffing committee, composed of 50% nursing staff and 50% hospital administration.
All MultiCare employees in the Puget Sound and Inland Northwest regions have the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) they need today to do their jobs safely. Due to supply chain disruptions, health systems worldwide are dealing with shortages of PPE. MultiCare has put in place clear guidelines for staff outlining when they should wear masks, CAPRs or N95s, protective eyewear, and gowns and gloves in various care settings. These guidelines are essential to our team’s ability to conserve PPE while maintaining safe care delivery for our all of our patients and caregivers. .3
MultiCare will continue to conduct risk assessments to prioritize PPE dissemination ensuring we are best prepared to meet the changing needs of our communities. The unfortunate reality is hospitals are anticipating a surge of critically ill patients in the next two to three weeks. Areas providing ICU levels of care to patients with respiratory illness are the organization’s highest priority for PPE distribution due to the risk of aerosolizing procedures.