"An Act relating to limitations on overtime for registered nurses in health care facilities; and providing for an effective date. "

This bill will prohibit an employer from assigning mandatory overtime and from threatening or retaliating against a nurse who refuses overtime. It will also give the nurse the latitude to make the judgment call about whether they are safe to practice (work overtime) or not. The bill assigns the administration of implementation and enforcement to the Commissioner of Department of Labor.

Mandatory overtime hours are those hours above an agreed upon, predetermined, regularly scheduled shift, which the employer makes compulsory (as opposed to voluntary). The threat of reprisals includes but is not limited to discharge, discipline, demotion or assignment to unattractive tasks or work shifts or in some cases licensure removal, retaliatory reporting, and charges of "patient abandonment".

Mandatory overtime contributes to poor quality patient care because fatigue and loss of concentration, which results from excessive overtime, increases the likelihood of errors. According to a study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), when staff plans to work additional shifts on a volunteer basis, they are more likely to be prepared and get plenty of rest immediately prior to working the extended shift. However, when an employer mandates overtime, this occurs with little or no prior notice. The result is high levels of fatigue and thus increased errors.

For nurses, these errors or mistakes may cause life-threatening situations for both the patient and the nurse. These situations run the gamut from back injuries for the nurse to patient medication errors to even death. The evidence is very strong that prolonged work hours and fatigue affect worker performance.

Emergency situations and Critical Access Hospitals are exempt from this bill.

24-LS0838\F

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