Safe Staffing

Coalition Bulletins

May 2023

Hospital Staffing Law Resources and Toolkit

The 2023 hospital staffing law (E2SSB 5236) includes new provisions to strengthen hospital staffing committees and increase accountability for staffing plans. Significant portions of the new law took effect on July 1, 2024. SEIU Healthcare 1199NW is committed to supporting the new law and ensuring it is effectively implemented across Washington. 

This toolkit includes information, recommendations, draft forms, and work samples to support the work of hospital staffing committees across Washington. 

Forming the Staffing Committee 

• 2023 Hospital Staffing Law : Full text of the final bill as signed into law. 
• Nurse Staffing Committee Checklist: Key elements of nurse staffing committees under the 2008 and 2017 law, including composition, primary responsibilities, staffing plan development and implementation of the plan.
• Hospital Staffing Committee Charter example template: By July 1, 2024, the hospital staffing committee shall file a hospital staffing committee charter with the Department of Health. This template meets all of the required aspects of the charter.

Developing and submitting the nurse staffing plan 

• Staffing plan form that must be submitted to DOH for each hospital license
• Example of filled out staffing plan
• Definitions for terms used in the staffing form 

Submitting, evaluating and tracking complaint 

• Assessing and Evaluating Complaints: The complaint process decision tree is a tool to help hospital staffing committees assess and evaluate complaints, including a decision tree outlining the process. 
• Complaint Tracking Tool (Excel): Excel form to help the nurse staffing committee track complaints, the resolution and the time frame by which complaints were received and resolved. 
• DOH Complaint Form (Word): The Department of Health has requested that staffing complaints are sent to hsqacomplaintintake@doh.wa.gov at this time. 
• Staffing Complaint Forms: The 2023 Staffing Law includes a process for hospital workers to raise staffing-related complaints and for staffing committees to respond to complaints. Our recommended complaint form will help track complaints and data coming to the nurse staffing committee. 

Our Advocacy

As part of this work, SEIU Healthcare 1199NW joined with the Washington State Nursing Association, UFCW 3000 to form the Washington Safe & Healthy Coalition in 2021. In 2022 and 2023, we fought for real, concrete solutions to our staffing crisis. Washington had faced a shortage of healthcare workers for years, but the pandemic put long-standing staffing problems into a pressure cooker. We were at a crisis point, and as frontline healthcare workers we had asked hospital executives for help, but we were ignored. That is why we called on state lawmakers to pass safe staffing standards that would let us do our jobs safely and give patients the care they deserve. Because of our advocacy, we won!

Watch: Leaders from three healthcare unions in our WA Safe + Healthy coalition — SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, UFCW 3000, and WSNA — discussed the details of this historic new law and its impact on patient care. They outline next steps for implementation, including ways in which we’ll hold hospital executives accountable together. Let’s celebrate this victory and continue fighting for improved patient safety!