Nursing Legislation: Key Laws That Affect Nurses in 2025
What are the latest laws affecting nursing? Legislation protects patients and guides healthcare providers in their care. As a nurse, it’s your job to know and understand current healthcare laws so you can follow them in your practice. But what about new bills and laws that are being proposed? Let’s go over how legislation impacts care, and proposed legislation to be aware of as a nursing professional.
The Effects of Nursing Legislation on Daily Practice
How does legislation affect nursing care? Throughout history, both state and national laws have shaped the nursing profession. The introduction of nurse practice acts in the early 20th century helped nursing transition from an informal trade to a professional field requiring licensure. Each state nurse practice law lays out the requirements to become a nurse in that state, determines the nursing scope of practice, and outlines disciplinary actions for nurses who violate the law.
Nursing is constantly evolving alongside medical innovations, increasingly complex care, and legislative changes. Legislation and nursing are deeply intertwined — healthcare advocates influence policy, and laws can dictate how care is delivered. Let’s take a look at some legislative measures and how they have affected nurses at the bedside:
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): Passed into law in 1996, HIPAA created new restrictions for the sharing and handling of health information. Due to HIPAA, nurses must be careful about how they discuss patients, access records, and speak about their work on social media. Violations of this law may lead to lawsuits, job loss, and disciplinary action by the state board of nursing.
- California Assembly Bill 394: Passed in 1999 after lobbying by the California Nurses Association, this bill was the first to mandate safe staffing ratios and formal training for new-hire nurses. It also outlawed assigning unlicensed personnel to perform nursing tasks, such as medication administration, patient assessments, and parenteral and tube feedings. After this law was passed, conditions for nurses at the bedside improved, and patient mortality decreased in the state.
- Affordable Care Act (ACA): Enacted in 2010, the ACA expanded access to care and emphasized preventative services. For nurses, this translated into a shift toward team-based care models and a greater focus on population health. Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) have taken on significant roles in providing primary care under the ACA, especially in underserved areas.
- Title VIII of the Public Health Services Act: Passed in 2020, this federal legislation provides funding for nursing workforce development programs, including academic education, recruitment, retention, and faculty development. Administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Title VIII legislation has promoted the career development of thousands of nursing students and faculty.
5 Current Legislative Bills that Affect Nursing
Legislation is constantly changing, and it can be hard to keep up. What new laws or proposed bills should you be aware of as a nurse?
1. H.R.1 — One Big Beautiful Bill Act
This bill was made into law in July 2025. H.R. 1 is an expansive set of laws that alter disaster assistance programs, Medicare, Medicaid, and much more. Notably, it reduces healthcare insurance coverage that was previously expanded by the ACA.
Legislative experts believe that H.R.1 will lead to closures of rural hospitals across the United States as a result of millions losing insurance coverage. Facilities that remain open may be forced to limit the care they provide, worsening disparities in rural health and increasing the dependency on urban medical centers. In rural areas, where medical centers are often essential employers as well as care facilities, staff may be faced with job losses, sicker patients, and worsening work conditions.
2. H.R.2530 — Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act
Proposed in 2023, H.R.2530 aims to establish minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals, mirroring California’s staffing law. It also protects nurses who refuse an assignment and outlaws discriminating against nurses who voice complaints about care, services, or work conditions.
Advocates argue this bill could reduce burnout, improve patient outcomes, reduce hospital costs, and improve job satisfaction for nurses. Opponents voice concerns about cost and feasibility in areas already experiencing severe nursing shortages. This bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Health in late 2024.
3. H.R.2531 — Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act
While healthcare workers are 10% of the overall workforce, they experience nearly half of the nonfatal workplace violence injuries. H.R.2531 would require certain healthcare and allied workplaces to put a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan in place. Facilities subject to this bill include hospitals, skilled nursing homes, community care, psychiatric facilities, and much more.
Leaning on the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA, 1970), this bill promotes hazard prevention tools such as alarms and systems to flag potentially violent patients. It also requires employers to respond to incidents of workplace violence, investigate, and provide medical care. If passed, this bill could make nurses safer at work, potentially improving retention and job satisfaction.
4. S.1482 — National Nursing Workforce Center Act Pilot Program
Initially introduced in 2023, the new 2025 Act aims to strengthen the nursing workforce by piloting investments in state nursing centers. This program would investigate the feasibility of partnerships between state nursing boards, schools, and healthcare facilities.
Funds awarded by the program will be used to analyze existing workforce gaps in the state, assess nursing education programs, plan workforce development programs, and establish faculty retention strategies. This Act could help provide more state-specific information about the nursing workforce shortage and holistic solutions.
5. S.3770 — The Future Advancement of Academic Nursing (FAAN) Act
The proposed legislation in S.3770 seeks to support and invest in nursing education by increasing funding for nursing faculty, infrastructure, and scholarship programs. It prioritizes funding for schools in medically underserved and rural areas, which will use grant funds to promote retention, modernize infrastructure, enhance and expand nursing programs, and more.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) supports the FAAN Act, which could help improve the shortage of nursing faculty. Shortages in educators present a bottleneck in nursing education, and thousands of qualified nursing students are turned away from schools each year. The FAAN Act could help expand programs and equip more nurses for practice.
Future Nursing Legislation and You
You don’t have to be a policy expert to make a difference. Nurses make up the largest segment of the healthcare workforce. When nursing professionals speak up, they can influence legislation. To advocate for laws that protect nurses, start by:
- Staying informed. Follow nursing organizations like the American Nurses Association (ANA) or your state board for legislative updates.
- Join or organize with other nurse advocacy groups, shared governance programs, nursing unions, or local cause-based organizations.
- Reach out to your elected officials through emails and calls. Share your opinions about how proposed bills would impact your patients, your workplace, and your profession.
Reinvent Your Career in Nursing
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