HB 1177

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to patient handling and moving practices;
3creating s. 381.029, F.S.; providing definitions;
4requiring hospitals and nursing homes to adopt and
5implement a safe patient handling and moving policy and
6providing requirements thereof; requiring establishment of
7a safe patient handling and moving committee; providing
8for the incorporation of patient handling and moving
9equipment into certain architectural plans for
10construction or remodeling of a hospital or nursing home
11or units thereof; requiring the submission of policies and
12remodeling plans to the Agency for Health Care
13Administration; providing certain protection for employees
14of hospitals and nursing homes who report certain
15violations or suspected violations; providing rulemaking
16authority to the agency; providing an effective date.
17
18Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20     Section 1.  Section 381.029, Florida Statutes, is created
21to read:
22     381.029  Safe patient handling and moving practices.--
23     (1)  As used in this section:
24     (a)  "Agency" means the Agency for Health Care
25Administration.
26     (b)  "Good faith" means that an employee believes that the
27information he or she reported or disclosed is true and that a
28violation has occurred or may occur.
29     (c)  "Hospital" means a facility licensed under chapter
30395.
31     (d)  "Minimal-lift philosophy" means to the greatest extent
32possible minimizing lifting tasks, encouraging a patient to
33assist with any lifting or moving activities without
34exacerbating his or her condition or putting himself or herself
35at risk, and avoiding any handling that involves manually
36lifting or moving the whole or a large part of a patient's
37weight.
38     (e)  "Nurse" means a registered nurse, a licensed practical
39nurse, or an advanced registered nurse practitioner as those
40terms are defined in s. 464.003.
41     (f)  "Nursing home" means a facility licensed under part II
42of chapter 400.
43     (2)(a)  The governing body of a hospital or nursing home
44shall adopt and ensure implementation of a policy and program to
45identify, develop, and assess strategies to control the risk of
46injury to patients and nurses associated with lifting,
47transferring, repositioning, or moving a patient.
48     (b)  The policy shall be consistent with a minimal-lift
49philosophy and establish a process that, at a minimum, includes:
50     1.  Establishment of a safe patient handling and moving
51committee with the responsibility of implementing a minimal
52manual lift program in the facility. The committee may be a
53subcommittee of any already existing committee and shall include
54in its membership representatives of the bargaining unit, where
55one is recognized, and members of the nursing staff from various
56units of the facility.
57     2.  Analysis of the risk of injury to patients, nurses, and
58health care workers posed by the handling and moving needs of
59the patient populations served by the hospital or nursing home
60and the physical environment in which patient handling and
61moving occurs.
62     3.  Education of a back injury resource nurse to serve as
63an expert resource and educational source for all nurses in the
64identification, assessment, and control of risks of injury to
65patients and nurses during patient handling and moving.
66     4.  Evaluation of alternative ways to reduce risks
67associated with patient handling and moving, including
68evaluation of equipment and the environment.
69     5.  Establishment of a program that will eliminate manual
70lifting, repositioning, and moving of patients based on current
71research and practice.
72     6.  Acquisition of, training with, and deployment of
73sufficient equipment and aids so that manual lifting,
74repositioning, or moving all or most of a patient's weight is
75restricted to emergency, life-threatening, or otherwise
76exceptional circumstances.
77     7.  Collaboration between the staffing committee and the
78nurse and the submission of an annual report to the committee.
79     8.  Procedures that a nurse may employ to refuse to perform
80or be involved in patient handling or moving that the nurse
81believes in good faith will expose the patient or the nurse to
82an unacceptable risk of injury.
83     9.  Submission of an annual report to the governing body of
84the hospital or nursing home and the agency on activities
85related to the identification, assessment, and development of
86strategies to control risk of injury to patients, nurses, and
87other health care workers associated with lifting, transferring,
88repositioning, or moving a patient.
89     10.  Publication of the policy and plan for implementation
90of the program and of the results of an annual evaluation that
91uses data analysis to measure the success of the program.
92     (3)  The feasibility of incorporating patient handling and
93moving equipment or the physical space and construction design
94needed to incorporate that equipment at a later date shall be
95considered in the development of architectural plans for
96constructing or remodeling a hospital or nursing home or a unit
97of a hospital or nursing home in which patient handling and
98moving occurs. The hospital or nursing home shall submit its
99policy and any plans for remodeling to the agency.
100     (4)  A hospital or nursing home may not penalize,
101discriminate against, or retaliate in any manner against an
102employee with respect to compensation for, or terms, conditions,
103or privileges of, employment if such an employee in good faith,
104individually or in conjunction with another person or persons:
105     (a)  Reports a violation or suspected violation of this
106section to a regulatory agency, private accrediting body, or
107management personnel of the hospital or nursing home;
108     (b)  Initiates, cooperates in, or otherwise participates in
109an investigation or proceeding brought by a regulatory agency or
110private accrediting body concerning matters covered by this
111section;
112     (c)  Informs or discusses with any other employee, with any
113representative of an employee, with a patient or patient
114representative, or with the public violations or suspected
115violations of this section; or
116     (d)  Otherwise avails himself or herself of the rights set
117forth in this section.
118     (5)  The agency shall develop rules for administering this
119act that require compliance with policy development and
120reporting by January 1, 2007, and full implementation of safe
121handling and moving policies by July 1, 2007.
122     Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.