HB 1177

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to patient handling and moving practices;
3	creating s. 381.029, F.S.; providing definitions;
4	requiring hospitals and nursing homes to adopt and
5	implement a safe patient handling and moving policy and
6	providing requirements thereof; requiring establishment of
7	a safe patient handling and moving committee; providing
8	for the incorporation of patient handling and moving
9	equipment into certain architectural plans for
10	construction or remodeling of a hospital or nursing home
11	or units thereof; requiring the submission of policies and
12	remodeling plans to the Agency for Health Care
13	Administration; providing certain protection for employees
14	of hospitals and nursing homes who report certain
15	violations or suspected violations; providing rulemaking
16	authority to the agency; providing an effective date.
17
18	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20	Section 1.  Section 381.029, Florida Statutes, is created
21	to 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
25	Administration.
26	(b)  "Good faith" means that an employee believes that the
27	information he or she reported or disclosed is true and that a
28	violation has occurred or may occur.
29	(c)  "Hospital" means a facility licensed under chapter
30	395.
31	(d)  "Minimal-lift philosophy" means to the greatest extent
32	possible minimizing lifting tasks, encouraging a patient to
33	assist with any lifting or moving activities without
34	exacerbating his or her condition or putting himself or herself
35	at risk, and avoiding any handling that involves manually
36	lifting or moving the whole or a large part of a patient's
37	weight.
38	(e)  "Nurse" means a registered nurse, a licensed practical
39	nurse, or an advanced registered nurse practitioner as those
40	terms are defined in s. 464.003.
41	(f)  "Nursing home" means a facility licensed under part II
42	of chapter 400.
43	(2)(a)  The governing body of a hospital or nursing home
44	shall adopt and ensure implementation of a policy and program to
45	identify, develop, and assess strategies to control the risk of
46	injury to patients and nurses associated with lifting,
47	transferring, repositioning, or moving a patient.
48	(b)  The policy shall be consistent with a minimal-lift
49	philosophy and establish a process that, at a minimum, includes:
50	1.  Establishment of a safe patient handling and moving
51	committee with the responsibility of implementing a minimal
52	manual lift program in the facility. The committee may be a
53	subcommittee of any already existing committee and shall include
54	in its membership representatives of the bargaining unit, where
55	one is recognized, and members of the nursing staff from various
56	units of the facility.
57	2.  Analysis of the risk of injury to patients, nurses, and
58	health care workers posed by the handling and moving needs of
59	the patient populations served by the hospital or nursing home
60	and the physical environment in which patient handling and
61	moving occurs.
62	3.  Education of a back injury resource nurse to serve as
63	an expert resource and educational source for all nurses in the
64	identification, assessment, and control of risks of injury to
65	patients and nurses during patient handling and moving.
66	4.  Evaluation of alternative ways to reduce risks
67	associated with patient handling and moving, including
68	evaluation of equipment and the environment.
69	5.  Establishment of a program that will eliminate manual
70	lifting, repositioning, and moving of patients based on current
71	research and practice.
72	6.  Acquisition of, training with, and deployment of
73	sufficient equipment and aids so that manual lifting,
74	repositioning, or moving all or most of a patient's weight is
75	restricted to emergency, life-threatening, or otherwise
76	exceptional circumstances.
77	7.  Collaboration between the staffing committee and the
78	nurse and the submission of an annual report to the committee.
79	8.  Procedures that a nurse may employ to refuse to perform
80	or be involved in patient handling or moving that the nurse
81	believes in good faith will expose the patient or the nurse to
82	an unacceptable risk of injury.
83	9.  Submission of an annual report to the governing body of
84	the hospital or nursing home and the agency on activities
85	related to the identification, assessment, and development of
86	strategies to control risk of injury to patients, nurses, and
87	other health care workers associated with lifting, transferring,
88	repositioning, or moving a patient.
89	10.  Publication of the policy and plan for implementation
90	of the program and of the results of an annual evaluation that
91	uses data analysis to measure the success of the program.
92	(3)  The feasibility of incorporating patient handling and
93	moving equipment or the physical space and construction design
94	needed to incorporate that equipment at a later date shall be
95	considered in the development of architectural plans for
96	constructing or remodeling a hospital or nursing home or a unit
97	of a hospital or nursing home in which patient handling and
98	moving occurs. The hospital or nursing home shall submit its
99	policy and any plans for remodeling to the agency.
100	(4)  A hospital or nursing home may not penalize,
101	discriminate against, or retaliate in any manner against an
102	employee with respect to compensation for, or terms, conditions,
103	or privileges of, employment if such an employee in good faith,
104	individually or in conjunction with another person or persons:
105	(a)  Reports a violation or suspected violation of this
106	section to a regulatory agency, private accrediting body, or
107	management personnel of the hospital or nursing home;
108	(b)  Initiates, cooperates in, or otherwise participates in
109	an investigation or proceeding brought by a regulatory agency or
110	private accrediting body concerning matters covered by this
111	section;
112	(c)  Informs or discusses with any other employee, with any
113	representative of an employee, with a patient or patient
114	representative, or with the public violations or suspected
115	violations of this section; or
116	(d)  Otherwise avails himself or herself of the rights set
117	forth in this section.
118	(5)  The agency shall develop rules for administering this
119	act that require compliance with policy development and
120	reporting by January 1, 2007, and full implementation of safe
121	handling 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.