Gray Area of Mandatory Overtime Does one ever think about the words “required” or “extended work shifts”? To countless nurses these terminologies or jargons mean mandatory overtime. In today’s healthcare, “required” overtime has sky rocketed, attributable to, the nursing shortages throughout the United States. Studies have revealed that working “extended work shifts or additional shifts” have a negative impact on both patient and nurse safety. The purpose of this paper is to inform and advocate
Mandatory overtime is a major problem for RNs and health care in general. In consequence of unequal RN staffing, organizations have adopted mandatory overtime often as a cost savings factor. The purpose of this paper is to voice nurses concerns about the health influences of long-term overtime and the quality of care that they provide. Workplace Issue Various factors have negatively influenced the nursing field. Those factors involve, but not limited to staff shortage, staffing ratios, mandatory
Debate: Against Elimination of Mandatory Overtime Situating the Topic It is known that working overtime is a prevalent practice among nurses used to deal with staff shortages. In Manitoba, 34% of nurses report working overtime (MNU, 2014, p. 4). Most overtime worked by nurses in Manitoba is voluntary, however, it is legal to mandate nurses to work overtime if required. According to the Manitoba Nurses Union (2010), “mandatory overtime is when a nurse is offered overtime, declines and states she is
Mandatory Overtime Mandatory overtime has been up for debate for quite some time. It is defined as hospitals having the need to maintain sufficient numbers of staff through forced overtime totaling twelve to sixteen hours worked with only an hour’s notice to the nurse. These nurses feel that they are not able to refuse mandatory overtime because of fatigue or having the feeling of not being able to provide safe patient care. Mandated overtime is cases such as a mass causality or an unforeseen emergency
Nursing Overtime and Adverse Effects Blima Marcus Hunter College Abstract This paper will explore the topic of nursing overtime and its effect on adverse events and errors in the workplace. The prevalence of mandatory and voluntary overtime is high. Nursing shortages combined with the aging baby boomer population means more work for health care workers, and nurses bear the brunt of this reality. There is some legislation in place to restrict mandatory overtime, but research suggests that overtime
mentioned, nursing shortages is the main reason that mandatory overtime takes effect. It is no secret that the nursing profession has always struggled with staffing issues and ratios. Many facilities do not have the amount of nurses they need to adequately staff each unit. Working overtime is a popular method used to control chronic understaffing and a common method used to handle normal changes in the patient census (Bae, 2013). Mandatory overtime is not an acceptable way to staff facilities, but
The nurses of today are just as important as doctors. Hospitals thrive on their training and skills to care for sick patients. Nurses are the heart and backbone of all hospital facilities. Nurse’s duties consist of injecting pharmaceutical drugs into a patients IV, measuring dosage, monitoring vital signs, keeping detailed logs of intake of medicine and other important procedures that go with the nursing profession. Hospitals all across the world depend on their valuable skills and determination
hospital nurses have become a standard of the past. Nowadays, 12-hour shifts for three days a week have become typical in most hospitals as recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) (Stimpfel, Sloane & Aiken, 2012). The length of the shifts and the working days; however, are often unpredictable due to increased demand for patient care and high census episodes. Nursing shortages, along with a weak economy, have left hospital nurses with no choice, then to work extended hours and overtime. Long hour
United States, and having already been implemented in other countries, nurses will be needed more than ever. Along with nursing shortages comes lager nurse to patient ratios as well as a higher demand of hours for nurses. How will this effect the profession and the consumers? How do nurses respond to increased hours? What are some of the problems the nursing shortage brings about? What can we do to bring in and train new nurses? These are just some of the questions the profession of nursing faces
deprived to carry out proper activities of daily life (Rogers, 2008). It certainly is evident within the health care system in regards to nursing and how it affects a nurse physically, mentally, and emotionally (Canadian Nurses Association, 2012). This can negatively impact the quality of patient care, as judgment is impaired, increasing risk of injuries to the patient (Scott, Arslanian-Engoren, & Engoren, 2014). This paper will discuss the impact of nursing fatigue on patient care, level of power