ANA News

Connecticut Nursing News, Mar-May 2005

ANA APPLAUDS BILL PROHIBITING USE OF FORCED OVERTIME AMONG NURSES

U.S. House of Representatives measure mould ensure safer patient care, greater protections for RNs

The American Nurses Association (ANA) hailed the Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act of 2005, a bill introduced by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) and Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) that would strictly limit the practice of forcing nurses to work overtime.

The proposed legislation would address the current nurse staffing crisis in the U.S. by strictly limiting mandatory overtime among nurses, a dangerous practice that has contributed to a recent exodus of nurses from the nation's hospitals and a decline in safe, quality patient care. ANA has been at the forefront of the push for this legislation and worked collaboratively on its development with members of Congress and other organizations representing nurses.

"Study after study has shown that the use of forced overtime among nurses endangers nurses and their patients," said ANA President Barbara Blakeney, MS, RN. "The Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act would prevent health care facilities from forcing exhausted nurses to work extra shifts, an unsafe practice that puts both patients and nurses at risk," she added.

As evidence, Blakeney pointed to "The Working Hours of Hospital Staff Nurses and Patient Safety," a study published in the July/August 2004 issue of Health Affairs, which found that the risk of making an error greatly increased when nurses worked shifts longer than 12 hours, when they worked significant overtime or when they worked more than 40 hours per week. This study reinforced findings of the 2003 Institute of Medicine Report, "Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses," which found that nurses' long working hours pose a serious threat to patient safety.

If passed, the Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act would:

* Prohibit health care facilities that receive Medicare funding from requiring a registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical nurse (LPN) to work beyond an agreed to, predetermined, regularly scheduled shift. In no instance could a nurse be required to work more than 12 hours in a 24-hour period or for more than 80 hours in a two-week period.

* Include nondiscrimination protections for nurses who refuse overtime and for nurses who provide information and/or cooperate with investigations about the use of overtime.

* Include an exception in the case of a declared national, state or local emergency. Such an emergency would be in response to a disaster, not to a staffing deficiency resulting from management practices.

* Provide for a study by the Department of Health and Human Services on the maximum number of hours that may be worked by a nurse without compromising patient safety.

The ANA has warned that mandatory overtime is dangerous for patients and nurses, and that the practice is exacerbating a growing nursing shortage that is expected to worsen dramatically over the next 10 years.

Connecticut's Mandatory Overtime Law

Public Act No, 04-242

AN ACT CONCERNING MANDATORY LIMITS ON OVERTIME IN HOSPITALS

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2005) (a) As used in this section:

(1) "Nurse" means a registered nurse or a practical nurse licensed pursuant to chapter 378 of the general statutes, or a nurse's aide registered pursuant to chapter 378a of the general statutes; and

(2) "Hospital" shall have the same meaning as set forth in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, as amended.

(b) No hospital may require a nurse to work in excess of a predetermined scheduled work shift, provided such scheduled work shift is determined and promulgated not less than forty-eight hours prior to the commencement of such scheduled work shift. Any nurse may volunteer or agree to work hours in addition to such scheduled work shift but the refusal by a nurse to accept such additional hours shall not be grounds for discrimination, dismissal, discharge or any other penalty or employment decision adverse to the nurse.

(c) The provisions of this section shall not apply: (1) To any nurse participating in a surgical procedure until such procedure is completed; (2) to any nurse working in a critical care unit until such nurse is relieved by another nurse who is commencing a scheduled work shift; (3) in the case of a public health emergency; (4) in the case of an institutional emergency, including, but not limited to, adverse weather conditions, catastrophe or widespread illness, that in the opinion of the: hospital administrator will significantly reduce) the number of nurses available for a scheduled! work shift, provided the hospital administrator; has made a good faith effort to mitigate the impact of such institutional emergency on the availability of nurses; or (5) to any nurse who is covered by a collective bargaining agreement that contains provisions addressing the issue of mandatory overtime.