|
Mandatory Overtime
for Hospital Nurses is
Patient Safety Hazard |
October 2007,
"Over the past decade of managed
care, hospitals have started
using mandatory overtime as a
regular way to staff their
facilities. Instead of
hiring enough nurses to meet
patients' needs, understaffed
hospitals often order nurses to
work back-to-back eight-hour
shifts or four extra hours on
top of a 12 hour shift.
According to a recent national
survey of registered nurses
conducted by the Felmman Group,
an independent polling firm,
nurses work an average of 6.5
hours of overtime a week, or 8.5
weeks of overtime a year."
Mandatory
Overtime Threatens Patient Care
"Exhausted, overworked nurses
are not as alert as nurses
working regular shifts,
increasing the risk of medical
errors. The Institute of
Medicine has reported that
medical errors in the nations
hospitals cause between 44,000
and 98,000 deaths each year."
Source: nursealliance.org
|
The Safe Nursing and
Patient Care Act of 2005 |
"Purpose:
This bill addresses the twin
problems facing nurses in our
country; protections for quality
of nursing care provided to
patients and protections for
maintaining the quality of the
profession by retaining
experienced nurses in the
workforce.
This bill limits the ability of
hospitals and other health care
providers to require mandatory
overtime from nurses. It
would be enforced through
Medicare's provider agreements.
The legislation does not cover
nursing homes as there are
alternative staffing/quality of
care proposals being pursued in
that arena." |
Bill Summary
Mandatory Overtime Limitations:
"Medicare's provider agreements
would be amended to prohibit the
use of mandatory overtime for
nurses in order to protect
quality patient care, except in
the case of a declared state of
emergency.
Mandatory Overtime
limitations would prohibit
requirements that a nurse work
in excess of any of the
following:
1. The scheduled work
shift or
duty period of the nurse.
2. 12 hours in a 24-hour
period,
3. 80 hours in a
consecutive 14-
day period.
And, which if refused by the
nurse, may result in an adverse
employment consequence to her or
him. Voluntary overtime is
not affected.
A Declared state of emergency
would be officially declared by
the federal government or
appropriate state or local
government authority. It
would not include staff
shortages resulting from labor
disputes in the health industry
or consistent understaffing in a
facility."
Safe
Working Hours For Nurses:
"This legislation protects
patient safety by eliminating
pressure on nurses to work
overtime beyond what they
professionally believe to be
safe for patient care because of
the very real threat of losing
their jobs. However, it
remains true that working too
long whether voluntarily or by
mandate is likely to
detrimentally impact patient
care. Unfortunately, no
good data exists today to
provide us with accurate
timeframes for safe nursing
care."
For the rest of the "Patient
Care
Act of 2005" click below.
http://www.valuecarevaluenurses.
org/Issues/checklist/Mandatory
Overtime/default.aspx
|
"Losing a loved one is one of the most distressing and emotional experiences people face. But because death is such a common life experience, virtually everyone deals with grief at some point. Despite the emotional difficulty, most people experiencing normal grief and bereavement endure a period of sorrow, numbness, and even guilt and anger, followed by a gradual fading of these feelings as they accept the loss and move forward.
For some people, though, this normal grief reaction becomes much more complicated, painful and debilitating, or what's known as complicated grief. In complicated grief, painful emotions are so long lasting and severe that you have trouble accepting the death and resuming your own life.
Researchers are beginning to pay more attention to complicated grief because of the serious toll it can exact — possibly leading to depression and thoughts of suicide. Researchers have even developed a new treatment that may help people with complicated grief come to terms with their loss and reclaim a sense of joy and peace.
Signs and Symptoms:
Mental health experts are still analyzing how complicated grief symptoms differ from those of normal grief or other bereavement reactions. During the first few months after a loss, many signs and symptoms of normal grief are the same as those of complicated grief. However, while normal grief symptoms gradually start to fade within six months or so, those of complicated grief get worse or linger for months or even years. Complicated grief is like being in a chronic, heightened state of mourning."
|
