(Harrisburg, PA) – Registered nurse, Kimberly Heverly, was one of over 300 nurses and other health caregivers who descended on the State Capitol on Tuesday to “mandate” their State Senators to pass House Bill 834 and end mandatory overtime.

“Excessive fatigue can impair nurse's abilities as much as alcohol can. Our patients and employers would be outraged if a nurse reported for work under the influence of alcohol -- as they well should be. But these same employers think nothing of forcing a tired nurse to work 16 hours or more. It is imperative that we take a stand together to protect the patients we serve as well as the profession we are so passionate about,” said Heverly, a member of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania from Altoona.

House Bill 834 was passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in May. More than 8 months later, no action has been taken in the Senate, a fact that frustrates nurses who are faced with the choice of working in a way that is unsafe for them or their patients, or facing disciplinary action.

Following the rally in the State Capitol rotunda, nurses delivered “Final Written Warnings” to Senators for failing to act on the legislation, similar to the written discipline a nurse may receive for refusing mandation.

“Whether they are safe to continue providing safe patient care, whether they have young children to pick up at school, whether working extra hours will endanger their own health – they are forced to stay or risk losing their jobs,” said Kathy Magaro, RN, Coordinator of the SEIU Nurse Alliance of Pennsylvania. “That’s a choice no one should have to make.”

 “Today, instead of nurses getting written up, we’re “writing up” our Senators for failing to stand up for patient safety!” said Magaro.

Eleven other states have already passed laws banning mandatory overtime, including neighboring New Jersey and West Virginia. 

Extensive research has demonstrated the link between overtime in health care and medical errors, including a 2004 study by University of Pennsylvania Researcher Ann Rogers finding that the risk of errors increased when nurses worked overtime or worked more than 40 hours per week.  In fact, the risk of error was 3 times higher when a nurse worked 12.5 hour shift or longer.

A new study published in January of 2008 in the journal, Sleep, links long work hours to incidents of drowsy driving by nurses leaving their scheduled work shift.  Two-thirds of nurses reported at least one episode of drowsy driving during the 4-week research study period.