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H.R. 2392: Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2017

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H.R. 2392: Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2017

115th Congress · introduced 2017-05-04 · Health · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2017-05-04 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2017

Plain summary

Nurse Staffing Standards for Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require 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. HHS must adjust Medicare payments to hospitals to cover additional costs incurred in providing services to Medicare beneficiaries that are attributable to compliance with these ratios. The bill states that nurses have a duty and a right to act based on their professional judgment and provide care in the exclusive interests of patients. 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 specified actions against a nurse based on the nurse's refusal to accept an assignment for such a reason; or (2) discriminate against individuals for good faith complaints relating to the care, services, or conditions of the hospital or related facilities. HHS must publish the names of hospitals penalized for violating the requirements in this bill. The bill adds stipends to the nurse workforce loan repayment and scholarship program. The nurse retention grant program is expanded to authorize programs to implement nurse preceptorship and mentorship projects.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

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If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

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PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2017

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] · 57 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Ro Khanna (D-CA), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Mark Takano (D-CA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), John Garamendi (D-CA), Katherine M. Clark (D-MA), Norma J. Torres (D-CA), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Judy Chu (D-CA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Juan Vargas (D-CA), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), André Carson (D-IN), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Darren Soto (D-FL), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Grace Meng (D-NY), Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Robin L. Kelly (D-IL)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] reported raising $415,385 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)
Authorization
A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill
A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong115-hr2392 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115