LCO No. 5858 1 of 5
General Assembly Committee Bill No. 375
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 5858
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING NU RSING HOME STAFFING LEVELS .
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) As used in this section 1
and sections 2 to 4, inclusive, of this act: 2
(1) "Discriminate or retaliate" includes, but is not limited to, the 3
discharge, demotion, suspension or any other detrimental change in 4
terms or conditions of employment, or the threat of any such action; 5
(2) "Nurse" means an advanced practice registered nurse, registered 6
nurse or licensed practical nurse licensed pursuant to chapter 378 of 7
the general statutes; 8
(3) "Advanced practice registered nurse" means an advanced 9
practice registered nurse licensed pursuant to chapter 378 of the 10
general statutes; 11
(4) "Registered nurse" means a registered nurse licensed pursuant to 12
chapter 378 of the general statutes; 13
(5) "Licensed practical nurse" means a practical nurse licensed 14
Committee Bill No. 375
LCO No. 5858 2 of 5
pursuant to chapter 378 of the general statutes; 15
(6) "Nurse's aide" means a nurse's aide registered pursuant to 16
chapter 378a of the general statutes; 17
(7) "Nursing home" has the same meaning as provided in section 18
19a-490 of the general statutes; and 19
(8) "Transportation duty" means the responsibility of a nurse or 20
nurse's aide to (A) ensure that a resident safely enters or exits from a 21
vehicle that is transporting the resident to or from the nursing home, 22
or (B) accompany the resident while he or she is being transported to 23
or from the nursing home. 24
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) Each nursing home shall 25
calculate on a daily basis, for the purposes of posting the information 26
required under subsection (b) of this section, the total number of 27
nurses and nurse's aides providing direct patient care to residents of 28
the nursing home. In calculating the total number, a nursing home 29
shall not include any nurse or nurse's aide who is on transportation 30
duty for any part of the workday or any nurse or nurse's aide who is 31
categorized as a member of the nursing home's management or 32
administration. 33
(b) Each nursing home shall post the following information on a 34
daily basis at the beginning of each shift in a legible format, and in a 35
conspicuous place readily accessible to and clearly visible by residents, 36
employees and visitors of the nursing home, including, but not limited 37
to, persons in a wheelchair: 38
(1) Name of the nursing home; 39
(2) Date; 40
(3) Total number of (A) advanced practice registered nurses, (B) 41
registered nurses, (C) licensed practical nurses, and (D) nurse's aides, 42
who will be responsible for direct patient care during the shift; 43
Committee Bill No. 375
LCO No. 5858 3 of 5
(4) Total number of hours such (A) advanced practice registered 44
nurses, (B) registered nurses, (C) licensed practical nurses, and (D) 45
nurse's aides are scheduled to work during the shift; 46
(5) Total number of nursing home staff per shift that is required by 47
the regulations of Connecticut state agencies to be responsible for 48
providing direct patient care to residents of the nursing home; 49
(6) Phone number or Internet web site that a resident, employee or 50
visitor of the nursing home may use to report a suspected violation by 51
the nursing home of a regulatory requirement concerning staffing 52
levels and direct patient care; and 53
(7) Total number of nursing home residents. 54
(c) Each nursing home shall, upon oral or written request, make the 55
daily information posted pursuant to subsection (b) of this section 56
available to the public for review. The facility shall retain such 57
information for not less than eighteen months from the date such 58
information was posted. 59
(d) Any nursing home that is found by the Department of Public 60
Health to have violated any regulatory requirement concerning 61
staffing levels and direct patient care shall post, for not less than thirty 62
calendar days, a legible notice stating the violation or violations in a 63
conspicuous place, readily accessible to and clearly visible by 64
residents, employees and visitors of the nursing home, including, but 65
not limited to, persons in a wheelchair. 66
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) If the Commissioner of 67
Public Health finds that a nursing home has substantially failed to 68
comply with a nursing home staffing level requirement established 69
pursuant to the regulations of Connecticut state agencies, the 70
commissioner may (1) take any disciplinary action against the nursing 71
home permitted under section 19a-494 of the general statutes, and (2) 72
issue or cause to be issued a citation to the licensee of such nursing 73
Committee Bill No. 375
LCO No. 5858 4 of 5
home pursuant to the provisions of section 19a-524 of the general 74
statutes. 75
(b) A violation of a nursing home staffing level requirement set 76
forth in the regulations of Connecticut state agencies shall be (1) 77
classified as a Class B violation pursuant to the provisions of section 78
19a-527 of the general statutes, and (2) prominently posted in the 79
nursing home and included in the listing prepared by the Department 80
of Public Health pursuant to the provisions of section 19a-540 of the 81
general statutes. 82
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) (1) No nursing home 83
shall discriminate or retaliate in any manner against an employee of 84
such nursing home because the employee submitted a complaint or 85
initiated or cooperated in an investigation by or proceeding before a 86
governmental entity relating to the care or services by, or the 87
conditions in, such nursing home. 88
(2) A nursing home that violates any provision of this section by 89
discriminating or retaliating against an employee shall reinstate the 90
employee, if the employee was terminated from employment, and 91
reimburse the employee for lost wages, lost work benefits and any 92
reasonable legal costs incurred by the employee in pursuing the 93
employee's rights under this section. 94
(b) (1) No nursing home shall discriminate or retaliate in any 95
manner against a resident of such nursing home because the resident, 96
or an individual on behalf of the resident, submitted a complaint or 97
initiated or cooperated in an investigation by or proceeding before a 98
governmental entity relating to the care or services by, or the 99
conditions in, such nursing home. 100
(2) A nursing home or nursing home facility that violates any 101
provision of this subsection shall restore the resident to his or her 102
situation prior to such discrimination or retaliation, including his or 103
her housing arrangement and other living conditions within the 104
Committee Bill No. 375
LCO No. 5858 5 of 5
nursing home, as appropriate, and reimburse any reasonable legal 105
costs incurred by the resident, or an individual acting on behalf of the 106
residents, in pursuing the resident's rights under this subsection. 107
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 4 October 1, 2019 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To ensure adequate reporting of the numbers of nursing home staff.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: SEN. LOONEY, 11th Dist.; SEN. DUFF, 25th Dist.
SEN. MCCRORY, 2nd Dist.; SEN. CASSANO, 4th Dist.
SEN. COHEN, 12th Dist.; SEN. ABRAMS, 13th Dist.
SEN. OSTEN, 19th Dist.; SEN. MOORE, 22nd Dist.
SEN. BRADLEY, 23rd Dist.; SEN. KUSHNER, 24th Dist.
SEN. HASKELL, 26th Dist.; SEN. LEONE, 27th Dist.
SEN. FLEXER, 29th Dist.; SEN. NEEDLEMAN, 33rd Dist.
SEN. FONFARA, 1st Dist.
S.B. 375