Patient Safety Act passes the Massachusetts House

Last February I wrote about why we need the Patient Safety Act, which would require a certain ratio of nurses to patients. Hey, we go into the hospital hopefully to get better, not to catch a hospital-related infection or get an overdose of a drug-- or the wrong drug entirely!

Naturally, hospitals oppose such legislation-- just like the drug companies are opposing legislation prohibiting them from giving gifts to doctors and nursing homes are opposing legislation requiring a 50/50 split of state money with home care providers.

Looks like institutional power may be giving way to common sense, at least as far as the Patient Safety Act goes. The legislation has been passed by the House and is now going to the Senate.

You can find out your senator and his/her phone number here. There's a new bill number-- HB 4714. Let them know you want to be safe in the hospital. You can get more infromation at the Mass. Nurses Association website.