Two bills have been introduced in Congress that will improve working conditions for nurses and improve patient care.

The Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act of 2007 (H.R. 2122 and S. 1842), prevents any hospital, or other healthcare provider, that receives Medicare funding from requiring registered nurses to work in excess of:

• their scheduled work shift or duty period, or
• 12 hours in a 24-hour period, or
• 80 hours in a consecutive 14-day period, except in cases of emergency as declared by the federal government or appropriate state and government agencies.

The other bill, the Nurse Staffing Standards Act for Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2007 (H.R. 2123) provides for mandated nurse-to-patient ratios based on the acuity of the patients' needs and the registered nurses necessary to care for those patients. For example, it provides a 1:1 ratio for a patient in operating units and trauma units, one nurse for every two patients in critical care units, and one nurse for every four patients in intermediate care units.

Enactment of these two bills will improve the working conditions for all nurses as well as the quality of care patients receive.