Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025
Latest action · May 14, 2025 Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 14, 2025
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025
This bill requires hospitals to implement and submit to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a staffing plan that complies with specified minimum nurse-to-patient ratios by unit. Hospitals must post a notice regarding nurse-to-patient ratios in each unit and maintain records of actual ratios for each shift in each unit. The bill also requires hospitals to follow certain procedures regarding how ratios are determined, and other staff are prohibited from performing nurse functions unless specifically authorized within a state's scope of practice rules.
HHS must adjust Medicare payments to hospitals to cover additional costs attributable to compliance with these ratios.
Nurses may object to, or refuse to participate in, an assignment if it would violate minimum ratios or if they are not prepared by education or experience to fulfill the assignment without compromising the safety of a patient or jeopardizing their nurse's license. Hospitals may not (1) take adverse actions against a nurse based on the nurse's reasonable refusal to accept an assignment; or (2) discriminate against individuals for good faith complaints relating to the care, services, or conditions of the hospital or related facilities. HHS may impose civil monetary penalties on hospitals violating the ratio requirements and must publish the names of such hospitals.
The bill provides stipends to the nurse workforce loan repayment and scholarship program and expands the nurse retention grant program to include nurse preceptorship and mentorship projects.
Cosponsors 49
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 14, 2025 to Aug 17, 2026; 17 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-NY | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-NV | Dina Titus | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-TX | Greg Casar | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-CA | Jared Huffman | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-CA | Judy Chu | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-CA | Julia Brownley | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-NJ | LaMonica McIver | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-TX | Lloyd Doggett | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-IL | Mike Quigley | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-WA | Pramila Jayapal | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-IL | Raja Krishnamoorthi | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-MI | Rashida Tlaib | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-CA | Ro Khanna | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-IL | Robin L. Kelly | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-OR | Suzanne Bonamici | Original | May 14, 2025 |
| D-MS | Bennie G. Thompson | Jul 16, 2025 | |
| D-MN | Betty McCollum | Jul 16, 2025 | |
| D-PA | Christopher R. Deluzio | Jul 16, 2025 | |
| D-IL | Delia C. Ramirez | Jul 16, 2025 | |
| D-OH | Emilia Strong Sykes | Jul 16, 2025 | |
| D-MN | Ilhan Omar | Jul 16, 2025 | |
| D-CA | Jimmy Gomez | Jul 16, 2025 | |
| D-CA | Juan Vargas | Jul 16, 2025 | |
| D-WI | Mark Pocan | Jul 16, 2025 | |
| D-MI | Debbie Dingell | Oct 6, 2025 | |
| D-CA | Maxine Waters | Oct 6, 2025 | |
| D-MI | Shri Thanedar | Oct 6, 2025 | |
| D-NY | Yvette D. Clarke | Oct 6, 2025 | |
| D-CA | Brad Sherman | Nov 12, 2025 | |
| D-CA | Josh Harder | Nov 19, 2025 | |
| D-MA | Ayanna Pressley | Dec 17, 2025 | |
| D-IL | Bill Foster | Dec 17, 2025 | |
| D-AZ | Adelita S. Grijalva | Mar 16, 2026 | |
| D-CA | Lateefah Simon | Mar 16, 2026 | |
| D-CA | Mark Takano | Mar 16, 2026 | |
| D-FL | Maxwell Frost | Mar 16, 2026 | |
| D-NY | Ritchie Torres | Apr 9, 2026 | |
| D-NY | Timothy M. Kennedy | Apr 14, 2026 | |
| D-ME | Chellie Pingree | May 11, 2026 | |
| D-WA | Emily Randall | Jun 9, 2026 | |
| D-CA | Nanette Diaz Barragán | Jun 18, 2026 | |
| D-NM | Melanie A. Stansbury | Jun 23, 2026 | |
| D-CT | Jahana Hayes | Jun 29, 2026 | |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | Jul 20, 2026 | |
| D-CA | Ted Lieu | Jul 20, 2026 | |
| D-IL | Jonathan L. Jackson | Aug 6, 2026 | |
| D-MD | Jamie Raskin | Aug 17, 2026 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred May 14, 2025 |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred May 14, 2025 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 14, 2025Introduced in House
- May 14, 2025Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 81, May 14, 2025, page H2053.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 1709 | Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025 | Identical bill | May 12, 2025 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish direct care registered nurse-to-patient staffing ratio requirements in hospitals, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 14, 2025Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
