Nevada nurses say new law will improve patient care and nurses’ working conditions.

National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU), the largest union of registered nurses in the country, is celebrating the passage of Nevada Senate Bill 182 (SB 182). The new legislation will set maximum nurse-to-patient ratios in Nevada hospitals, improving patient care and safety and likely bringing nurses back to the bedside.

“This is a day that will change nursing in Nevada for the better, forever,” said Karen Pels-Jimenez, RN from Las Vegas. “Having legal limits to the amount of patients nurses can be assigned at one time is more than just commonsense regulation — it is the key to making our hospitals safer places to get care and better places to work.”

The bill now heads to Governor Joe Lombardo’s desk for his signature, and nurses say the Nevada governor’s approval is the final step to a complete transformation for nursing in Nevada.

Sponsored by Senator Rochelle Nguyen of Nevada’s 3rd Senate District, SB 182 sets maximum nurse-to-patient ratios based on the acuity of patients in various types of hospital units. By placing maximum limits on the number of patients nurses can be assigned in various hospital units, the legislation creates ways to hold hospital employers accountable for putting patients, nurses, and all health care workers in unsafe situations.

SB 182’s advancement comes as NNOC/NNU nurses have joined forces with other health care worker unions in Nevada to advocate for these measures. In addition to safe staffing ratios for RNs, the legislation seeks to set ratios for other health care workers in acute-care facilities.

Similar legislation passed in California over 20 years ago has revolutionized nursing for California nurses. The science of ratios has demonstrated these measures improve patient outcomes, and nurses from across the country who’ve worked in California say the ratio limits have a dramatic impact on their working conditions. Nevada RNs are celebrating that the Silver State’s dedicated nurses could now benefit from the same measures as their Golden State counterparts.

NNOC/NNU represents more than 3,000 registered nurses throughout Nevada and also supports a federal ratios bill recently re-introduced to the U.S. Congress.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.