Action Update

Legislation to Require Round-the-Clock Registered Nurse Coverage in Nursing Homes Reintroduced in Congress

February 19, 2015

Consumer Voice is pleased to share that Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) has reintroduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to require round-the-clock registered nurse (RN) coverage in nursing homes. H.R. 952, the Put a Registered Nurse in the Nursing Home Act, was reintroduced by Congresswoman Schakowsky in the 114th Congress last Thursday, February 12th, and would require all nursing homes receiving Medicare and/or Medicaid reimbursement to have a RN on duty twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Under current federal law, nursing homes are only required to have a RN eight hours a day regardless of facility size or the complexity of residents’ care needs. This is not sufficient to ensure that quality care is being provided within these settings. It is critical for a RN to be on duty 24 hours a day because she or he is the sole nursing professional in a nursing home who can conduct nursing assessment when residents’ medical conditions suddenly change or deteriorate.

Now that H.R. 952 has been introduced in the new Congress, we need your help in moving this vital bill forward! We thank all of you who took action last year to help us support the bill but need you to write to your members of Congress again. Click HERE to ask your U.S. Representative to sponsor the Put a Registered Nurse in the Nursing Home Act. This will help the legislation get off to a strong start. The more sponsors there are, the more likely other House members will be to support the bill as it moves forward. To read more about why round-the-clock RN coverage is critical to ensuring quality care in nursing homes, visit our webpage on the legislation here. Thank you for your advocacy, and stay tuned for further updates on this important legislation!