PA Nurses Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee in Support of Restricted Overtime
Harrisburg, PA, May 24, 2004 -The PA State Nurses Association today testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of SB 722 –Health Care Worker and Patient Protection Act.
SB 722 declares the Commonwealth has a substantial interest in assuring that
the delivery of health care services to patients in health care facilities is
adequate and safe, placing certain limitations on mandatory overtime, with
exceptions during times of emergency. Detailed definitions of SB 722 are shown
here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/BT/2003/0/SB0722P0956.HTM.
The PA State Nurses Association opposes the routine use of mandatory
overtime for staffing health care facilities. Mandatory overtime is not accepted
by the PA Nurses as an appropriate method of staffing and believes facilities
are responsible for having the appropriate numbers of nurses to care for
patients in their charge. PA Nurses affirms that nurses who refuse mandatory
overtime are not abandoning patients. PA Nurses does support instituting
mandatory overtime in real emergency situations.
“Presently, our industry
is carrying the burden of forecasted shortages with increased needs among
patients. Recent research suggests that we may be seeing signs of improvement
through evidence of increased interest in the nursing profession,” said Michele
Campbell, MSN, RNC, executive administrator of the PA State Nurses Association.
“To not nurture this improvement through protective measures, could lead to a
reversal in any gains made. These protective measures must be implemented to
ensure not only the quality of care provided to patients, but also to sustain
the professional life expectancy of nurses.”
“I see mandatory overtime as
a form of emotional blackmail. You are told you cannot leave because leaving is
patient abandonment, and for that you will lose your job. As a single parent, I
could not fight that because I needed my job to support my two children, but at
what cost? What about child abandonment and neglect? I always had a fear of
something happening to my children or my home, from a fire to having them taken
away from me, all because I was unable to come home,” said Cyndi Owen-Manns, RN,
member of the PA State Nurses Association.
PA Nurses encourages nurses
and patients within the Commonwealth to contact their local legislators in favor
of passing SB722. Visit www.panurses.org and click on Legislative Alert for more
information.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/5/prweb128276.htm