# 119-s-1709: Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025

119-s-1709, Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1709
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-1709
- Congress: 119
- Title: Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-05-12
- Sponsor: Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 5
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Minimum nurse-to-patient ratios** would be set across hospital units under a federal framework that requires hospitals to submit staffing plans and meet timelines. The Secretary of Health and Human Services would set, adjust, and enforce ratios and related rules. - Patients and families: Aims to reduce RN caseloads by setting fixed maximum ratios and banning mandatory overtime and averaging across shifts. Examples in the text include 1 patient per RN in trauma and emergency units and 2 patients per RN in critical care. - Nurses and workforce: Strengthens protections for nurses to refuse unsafe assignments without retaliation and requires meaningful RN input and unit staffing committees with at least 50 percent direct care RNs. The bill also funds education, stipends, preceptorships, mentorships, and retention grants and calls for studies on workforce supply. - Hospitals and federal programs: Compliance would be required for Medicare, Medicaid, VA, DoD, and Indian Health Service payments and the bill authorizes civil penalties up to $25,000 for a first hospital violation and up to $50,000 for subsequent violations. MedPAC must report on costs and recommend any Medicare payment adjustments.

## Cosponsors (5)

- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA), 2025-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA), 2025-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] (D-WI), 2025-05-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT), 2026-01-05T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Nurse scholarships, stipends, and grants: benefit, medium. The bill would allow nursing scholarships to include stipends. It would expand nurse retention grants to pay for preceptorships and mentorships for students, new nurses, and recent graduates. This could lower training costs and help new nurses stay in hospital jobs.
- Hospital nurse staffing and protections: mixed, high. This bill would require hospitals to file a staffing plan within 1 year. Ratios would take effect within 2 years, or 4 years for rural hospitals. It would set numeric RN-to-patient maximums by unit (for example, trauma 1:1, ICU 1:2, med-surg 1:4). The bill would ban averaging across shifts and ban…
- Medicare/Medicaid hospital rules and payments: mixed, high. The bill would make following the staffing rules a condition for hospitals to participate in Medicare and to get Medicaid payments. It would require Medicare to adjust hospital payments to cover net additional costs from compliance. MedPAC must report within 2 years on costs and whether Medicare pa…
- Study and rules for LPN staffing: mixed, medium. The bill would require a government study of licensed practical nurse (LPN) staffing within 1 year. Within 18 months, the Secretary would set minimum direct-care LPN staffing rules based on the study. Those LPN rules would take effect within 2 years, or 4 years for rural hospitals.
- Federal hospitals must follow rules: mixed, medium. The bill would require VA, Defense, and Indian Health Service hospitals to follow the same staffing rules. It would let federal hospitals use negotiated grievance procedures for enforcement. Congress could be appropriated extra sums to help federal hospitals comply, though no dollar amounts are lis…
- Hotline, reporting, and fines for violations: mixed, low. The bill would require HHS to run a toll-free hotline for staffing information and reports. Hospitals must give each inpatient the hotline number. The Secretary could fine hospitals up to $25,000 for a first knowing violation and up to $50,000 for later knowing violations. Individuals employed by a…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act
- 119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act

## Sources
- [119-s-1709 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1709)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2763)
- [119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3869)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1709 (as of 2026-04-21).