Hospitals - Clinical Staffing Committees and Plans - Establishment (Safe Staffing Act of 2025)

This bill requires licensed hospitals in Maryland to create clinical staffing committees with equal representation from management and employees, including frontline staff such as nurses, patient care technicians, and dietary workers. These committees must develop staffing plans that specify the number of healthcare workers needed on each unit during each shift based on patient volume and acuity levels, with guidelines ideally based on national evidence-based standards. Hospitals must review and update their staffing plans annually by July 1, implement them by January 1, 2026, and publicly post both the plan and daily staffing numbers on patient units and their websites. The bill also establishes a complaint process allowing nurses and other frontline staff to report when staffing assignments do not meet the plan, with committees required to resolve these complaints through a majority vote. State hospitals are exempt from these requirements.