TABLE 1.

Details of Current State Nurse Staffing Legislation, as of 2020

Type of Regulation	State	Year of Implementation	Statute	How Each State Requires Nurse Staffing	Link to Statute
Staffing mandate	California	2004	California Health and Safety Code Section 1276.4	Registered nurse and/or licensed practical nurse-to-patient ratio in all hospital units	http://law.onecle.com/california/health/1276.4.html
	Massachusetts	2014	Massachusetts General Law Section 111.231	Registered nurse-to-patient ratio in intensive care units	https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVI/Chapter111/Section231
Staffing committee	Oregon	2001	Oregon Revised Statutes Public Health, Housing, Environment Section 609.2	The committee consist entirely of direct-care registered nurses	www.oregonlaws.org/ors/441.162
	Ohio	2008	Ohio Revised Statutes Health-Safety-Morals Section 3727.51	At least 50% of the committee members must be direct-care registered nurses	http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3727.51
	Washington	2008	Washington State Legislature Section 70.41.420	At least 50% of the committee members must be direct-care registered nurses	https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=70.41.420
	Texas	2009	Texas Health and Safety Code Section 257.001	At least 60% of the committee members must be registered nurses	www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/HS/htm/HS.257.htm
	Connecticut	2009	Connecticut Code Public Health and Well-Being Section 19a-89e	At least 50% of the committee members must be direct-care registered nurses	www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_368a.htm#sec_19a-89d
	Nevada	2009	Statutes of Nevada Section 449.242	At least 50% of the committee members must be licensed nursing staff and certified nursing assistant	www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-449.html#NRS449Sec. 242
	Illinois	2009	Illinois Compiled Statutes Chapter 210 ILCS 85/Section 10.10	At least 50% of the committee members must be registered nurses	www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=021000850K10.10
Public reporting*	New Jersey	2004	State of New Jersey 211th Legislature c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.)	The ratio of patients to number of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and certified nurse aides	ftp://www.njleg.state.nj.us/20042005/S1000/689_U1.HTM
	Rhode Island	2005	Rhode Island Health and Safety Code 23-17.17-8	The number of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and/or certified nursing assistants and the average number of patients upon which such staffing levels are based	http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/title23/23-17.17/23-17.17-8.HTM
	Vermont	2005	The Vermont Statutes Health § 1854	The number of registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, and licensed nursing assistant full-time equivalent (either every 8 or 12 h worked during the shift as 1 full-time equivalent)	http://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/18/042
	Illinois	2009	Illinois Compiled Statutes Chapter 210 ILCS 86/Section 25	The number of registered professional nurses, licensed practical nurses, and other nursing personnel assigned to each patient care unit and nursing hours per patient day	www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2466&ChapterID=21
	New York	2010	New York Public Health Law Section 2805-T	The ratio of patients per registered nurse full-time equivalents; the number of licensed practical nurses, nursing hours per patient, and as a percentage of patient care staff; the number of unlicensed personnel and as a percent of patient care staff	https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._public_health_law_section_2805-t

^*Massachusetts, Washington, and Minnesota also publicly reported nurse staffing but this is not mandated by the legislation. Washington amended the legislation to include public reporting in 2017 and enacted on January 1, 2019 to require hospitals to submit and post nurse staffing plans annually (Washington State Department of Health, Hospital policies, available at: www.doh.wa.gov/DataandStatisticalReports/HealthcareinWashington/HospitalandPatientData/HospitalPolicies).