Nurses’ bill gets Senate approval Measure designed to curb mandatory overtime work

AUGUSTA – The Maine Senate gave final approval Friday to a compromise measure designed to ease mandatory overtime for nurses.

The proposal had already been accepted by the House of Representatives. Gov. Angus King, whose administration brokered the compromise, is expected to sign it into law.

Under the terms of the measure, LD 1082, which was worked out between representatives of Maine nurses and hospitals, no nurse may be disciplined for refusing to work more than 12 consecutive hours except in the case of an unforeseen situation in which overtime is required as a last resort to ensure the safety of patients.

Nurses required to work overtime in such cases would have to be given at least 10 hours off-duty following the overtime.

“It’s a small step and it’s a start,” said Sen. Peggy Pendleton, D-Scarborough, a nurse education consultant. “It shows nurses that the Legislature is concerned about their issues and it’s a victory for nurses.”

A broader version had been passed and sent to the governor’s desk, but was recalled after King expressed reservations.

“The governor’s concern about the original bill was that there were no standards,” gubernatorial aide Kay Rand said.

Negotiations between the interested parties produced an agreement that drew on standards in place in other states.

Rand said the compromise version addressed a real problem.

“There’s a nursing shortage and overtime has become a normal staffing pattern,” she said.

Mary Mayhew of the Maine Hospital Association said the need for more nurses remains the central issue.

“We’re still not addressing the fundamental problem, which is a work force shortage,” she said.

“We never thought that the legislation was necessary because mandatory overtime was not used frequently and was only used to ensure patient safety,” Mayhew said.

“We do have some concern that that amount of a rest period could create holes in the following day’s schedule, resulting in the need for more overtime.”

Proponents of the legislation maintain that Maine hospitals have been compensating for a statewide shortage of nurses by scheduling overtime regularly.

Critics warned that restrictions on overtime could hamper the ability of hospitals to meet patient needs.

Stressful work conditions aggravated by a shortage of nurses, as well as dissatisfaction with pay, has spurred job actions and the formation of nurses’ unions at hospitals around the nation.

The number of registered nurses nationwide has increased by 39 percent in the last five years, but many choose not to work in hospitals or nursing homes.

The Department of Health and Human Services predicts a shortage of 400,000 nurses by 2020.