IL Congresswoman Proposes Bill to Increase Minimum Direct Care Nurse Hours

A bill proposed by Congresswoman Jan Schankowsky of Illinois would require long-term care facilities to use the services of at least one RN to provide "assessment, surveillance and direct are to residents 24 hours a day, seven days a week." "Surveillance" was defined as "the ongoing acquisition, interpretation and synthesis of residents' data for clinical decision making."

According to Congresswoman Schankowsky, nursing facilities are caring for increasingly more complex residents but are not required to have an RN on duty for more than eight hours a day. She said that the need to change this "could not be more urgent."

If the bill passes, it will amend Titles XVIII and XIX under the Social Security Act and go into effect after the first day of the first calendar quarter one year after the date of enactment.

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