© 2024 WNMU-FM
Upper Great Lakes News, Music, and Arts & Culture
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Hearing highlights patient, nurse safety in Michigan

LANSING, MI--   The state House Health Policy Committee heard testimony Wednesday on bills sponsors say would increase patient safety in Michigan hospitals. 

The Safe Patient Care Act consists of three bills. One establishes limits on the number of patients a nurse can be assigned. Another caps the number of hours a nurse can work consecutively to 12, with exceptions for special circumstances. The third bill would require hospitals to reveal their RN-to-staff ratios.

More than 70 registered nurses from around Michigan, including Marquette, attended the hearing. UPHS-Marquette nurses went on a 48-hour strike over those same issues in October.

Bargaining sessions with hospital administration will be held Thursday and next month. 

Nicole was born near Detroit but has lived in the U.P. most of her life. She graduated from Marquette Senior High School and attended Michigan State and Northern Michigan Universities, graduating from NMU in 1993 with a degree in English.