Nurse Staffing Standards
(Selected bill: S.1357: Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2019). Select a current health bill from the federal or state government or an organization that deals either with a human resource issue (think nurse-staffing ratios) or one involving a health care disparity (e.g. a bill proposing that Medicaid cover dental care for pregnant low-income women). By current, it must be a bill either in the legislature now at some level (e.g. in a committee), or one that is being proposed. It should not be a bill that has already passed. Research this bill and then emphasizing the human resource issues involved, compare and contrast the pros and cons of the bill and provide very specific reasons for your support or opposition to the bill. Identify at least one Political Action Committee (PAC) that supports the bill of your choice and one that opposes it. Include the definition of a PAC in your discussion and explain where the PAC gets its funds. State whether or not you think PACs (and/or super PACs) are a good or bad influence on the political process. You may find some useful information for this part of the discussion at: https://www.opensecrets.org/ If there is no PAC for your policy, identify at least one organization or group that supports the bill and one that opposes it. You still need to provide a definition of a PAC in the discussion and state if you think they are a good or bad influence to policy development.
