The Joint Commission has released its 2026 National Performance Goals. Effective January 1st, hospitals will be scored across the Commission’s updated, 14-goal rubric and its new Performance domain, Goal 12. Under Goal 12, hospitals must have a designated nurse executive specifically responsible for overseeing staffing policy. In addition, there must be an on-duty nurse to either directly provide care or supervise nursing services at all times. The American Nurses Association is calling the addition of Goal 12 a “defining moment” for nursing; stating “The inclusion of nurse staffing as a national performance goal validates what hospitals have always known: that adequate staffing is essential to prevent patient harm.”