PRINTER'S NO. 3294
No. 314 Session of 1996
INTRODUCED BY DeLUCA, CIVERA, GIGLIOTTI, RAYMOND, TRELLO,
E. Z. TAYLOR, MELIO, SAYLOR, PESCI, KING, BELARDI, SHANER,
OLASZ, WALKO, COLAFELLA, MARKOSEK, ROBERTS, READSHAW, ITKIN,
STABACK, PISTELLA, BOSCOLA, DERMODY, CAPPABIANCA, TRICH AND
McGEEHAN, MARCH 20, 1996
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, MARCH 20, 1996
A RESOLUTION
1 Directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to
2 conduct a comprehensive study evaluating existing health care
3 regulation within this Commonwealth and to make
4 recommendations to the House of Representatives.
5 WHEREAS, Nursing assistants are currently within the area of
6 responsibility of four departments; and
7 WHEREAS, Nursing has sole responsibility for delegation of
8 nursing duties; and
9 WHEREAS, Certain duties have always been delegated by a
10 registered nurse on a case-by-case, supervised basis; and
11 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth currently has no standard for
12 training and certification of nurse's aides; and
13 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth relies on a system of public and
14 private, for-profit and not-for-profit hospital and nursing home
15 facilities; and
16 WHEREAS, The Department of Public Welfare licenses some of
17 these facilities but has never developed a formal plan which
1 provides for a uniformity of service and evaluation of
2 nonlicensed care providers; and
3 WHEREAS, The Health Facilities Act has evolved without any
4 real planning process; and
5 WHEREAS, Patients in hospitals are always more acutely ill
6 due to the increase of cost-saving ambulatory care techniques;
7 and
8 WHEREAS, There is a perception that health care quality is
9 declining in hospitals; and
10 WHEREAS, There is continuing pressure to change the current
11 system that provides for health care in general without any
12 objective evaluation of the current system of services regarding
13 its meeting the needs of the public; and
14 WHEREAS, There has never been a formal assessment of the
15 suitability or effectiveness of nurse's aide training programs;
16 therefore be it
17 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives direct the
18 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to undertake a
19 comprehensive review of the various nurse's aide training and
20 certification programs, including all out-of-home residential
21 and nonresidential programs in which health care services are
22 delivered to consumers of this Commonwealth; and be it further
23 RESOLVED, That the study include a description of the
24 evolution of health care facilities, nursing practice,
25 philosophy and the method for the delegation of nursing duties;
26 and be it further
27 RESOLVED, That the study include a description and evaluation
28 of the various public and private facilities which are available
29 to the public for the purposes of treatment and rehabilitation,
30 information on the cost of nursing services and the method of
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1 payment for these services, information on the funding streams
2 utilized for these services and information on the demographics
3 of the patients placed in these facilities; and be it further
4 RESOLVED, That the study include information from the
5 entities which mandate the administration of hospitals and
6 nursing homes, health maintenance organizations and insurance
7 companies; and be it further
8 RESOLVED, That the study include recommendations on which
9 licensing board should be responsible for nurse's aides and on
10 necessary changes in statutes, regulation and licensing
11 requirements; and be it further
12 RESOLVED, That the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
13 submit the report to the House of Representatives by January 30,
14 1997.
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