Massachusetts will vote on nurse staffing limits in November

Editor's Note

Massachusetts voters will decide in November whether to mandate nurse staffing limits in hospitals, the July 9 Boston Business Journal reports.

The nurse staffing question, which is being spearheaded by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, will ask voters to establish patient-to-nurse limits in different areas of the hospital. Hospitals that ignore the requirements would be fined $25,000 per day.

The state’s hospitals are against the ballot question, saying it would cost $1.3 billion in the first year and $900,000 annually thereafter, along with instantly causing a staffing shortage of nearly 6,000 vacancies throughout the state.