MERIDEN - Surrounded by nurses at MidState Medical Center Wednesday afternoon, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed legislation that aims to ensure that state hospitals maintain adequate nursing care.

"Don't tell me you're going to take my blood pressure," joked Rell, as she signed the bill into law.

Connecticut's approach is an alternative to ratio-based systems adopted in other states, including California, that require the maintenance of certain nurse staffing levels.

Instead, the law requires Connecticut hospitals to report nurse staffing plans to the Department of Public Health. It also requires that registered nurses make up at least 50 percent of the hospital committee that reports to the state.

The approach recognizes that "no one plan fits all," noted Jennifer Jackson, president of the Wallingford-based Connecticut Hospital Association, which represents the state's acute-care hospitals.