HB2187

HB2187 adds accountability and complaint procedures to existing hospital nurse-staffing and mandatory-overtime laws. It does not itself establish a statewide numerical nurse-to-patient ratio or create the original ban on mandatory overtime. Those chapters already required staffing policies and provided overtime protections with defined exceptions. Final law; staffing framework; overtime framework.

A hospital’s chief nursing officer must attest to the accuracy of its annual staffing information, and the Department of State Health Services must give that information to the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). The existing report covers staffing policies, committee membership, plan evaluation and nurse-sensitive outcome measures—not a new requirement in this act to publish every shift’s staffing roster. Final law, Section 2; Section 257.005.

Hospitals may not retaliate against nurses who give information to the staffing committee or report staffing-law violations to hospital management or HHSC. The existing overtime anti-retaliation provision is expanded to protect reporting violations to management or HHSC, in addition to refusing mandatory overtime. Final law, Sections 3 and 5.

For both staffing and overtime complaints, HHSC must establish or designate a process accepting written or verbal complaints, set a time for review and response, and give the complainant a written decision. The decision must include the responsible employee’s contact information, review/evaluation/investigation actions, results and resolution date. If a reviewed complaint is resolved without investigation, HHSC must explain why. The statute does not prescribe a single numeric response deadline or require investigation of every complaint. Final law, Sections 257.007 and 258.006.

Enforcement uses the applicable hospital-licensing laws and rules. The act places complaint/investigation materials under the referenced confidentiality and disclosure provisions. That is not a promise that every enforcement outcome is secret: the referenced hospital laws also address disclosure of specified de-identified enforcement information, and the existing annual staffing report remains public information. Final law; Section 241.051; Section 577.013; Section 257.005(b).

Existing overtime boundaries still matter. The statutory definition excludes prescheduled on-call time and necessary patient-status handoff/documentation immediately around a shift. The existing prohibition has exceptions for specified disasters, emergencies, unforeseeable staffing events and an ongoing procedure requiring the nurse’s continued presence for patient safety. Voluntary overtime remains allowed. HB2187 does not erase those provisions. Health and Safety Code 258.002–258.004.

The act took effect September 1, 2025, with any necessary implementation rules due by December 31, 2025. This describes the enacted requirements, not a finding that a particular complaint has been handled correctly or that all implementation steps are complete. Final law, Sections 7–8.