A very large thank you to the Maine Legislature and the Bangor Daily News for their support of nurses on LD 1082. Presently there is a shortage of working nurses in Maine, which only compounds the current nursing shortage.

Nurses are being required to work longer and harder. The bedside nurse, whose average age is in the mid 40s, is overtired and over-extended.

This could be a lethal combination for any patient. Nurses are college-educated professionals who have taken an oath to care for those in need. Patient safety has become such a major concern to nurses that collectively they are now speaking out. Nurses nationwide are asking for both public and legislative support against mandatory overtime. Federal legislation has been introduced in Congress and many state governments are looking at this issue as well. Nurses at one Massachusetts hospital are embroiled in a much-publicized strike with mandatory overtime being the central issue.

It was most disappointing to read that both the Maine Hospital Association and a local state senator feel that this issue is limited to a dispute between the Maine State Nurses Association and a local hospital. They are both correct in that LD 1082 is a bill sponsored by the Maine State Nurses Association. As a Maine nurse this is exactly the kind of bill my professional nursing association should be sponsoring. But they could not be more wrong in their assertions that this bill is intended to finger point at any one hospital.

Mandatory overtime, forced shift changes and short staffing is a problem for nurses, and subsequently our patients, in all corners of the state and the nation. This is not a local issue. This current health care crisis is affecting patient care everywhere. As responsible, caring professionals, we nurses are doing what we have been trained to do and that is to advocate for our patients and their safety.

Carol J. Card RN, BSN

Orrington