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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Dan Surra |
  
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Senate committee moves Surra's nurse overtime bill
HARRISBURG, Sept. 23 – The state Senate Labor and Industry Committee today approved legislation introduced by state Rep. Dan Surra that would prohibit hospitals and other health-care facilities from forcing direct patient care workers such as nurses to work beyond their regular shifts.
The House passed the bill in May 2007. Surra said the Senate version includes an amendment that specifies the types of emergencies under which hospitals would be permitted to require overtime, but otherwise, is similar to the bill that originally passed the House.
"The full Senate now has before it extremely important worker safety and patient safety legislation," Surra said. "I am hopeful that both the House and Senate can pass a final version of this bill before the end of this legislative session so the governor can sign it into law."
Surra, D-Elk/Clearfield, said the legislation (H.B. 834) would end the practice in many Pennsylvania hospitals of using forced overtime as a routine staffing strategy for nurses. Surra said mandatory overtime – which is often imposed with little or no notice – not only has a negative impact on nurses, but also on patients. Studies have shown that overworked and tired nurses are more prone to make mistakes.
In the long term, he said, mandatory overtime leads many nurses to leave the profession because of burnout and fear of harming their patients.
As approved by the Senate committee, the legislation would prohibit mandatory overtime for nurses and other direct-patient care workers except in cases where a national, state or municipal emergency has been declared; instances of terrorism, natural disaster or widespread disease outbreak; or unexpected and last-minute staff absences that could impact patient safety.
"The legislation balances the staffing needs of hospitals with the very real concerns that mandatory overtime poses for the safety of our health-care system," Surra said. "Several other states have already banned the practice and nurse staffing has not suffered. There are better ways to staff our hospitals than requiring nurses to work 18 hour shifts and sometimes weeks without a day off.
"We owe it to both nurses and their patients to make overtime for our most critical health-care workers the exception and not the rule."
House Bill 834 now goes to the full Senate for consideration.
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