(Washington, DC)  --  Today, on the heels of a newly released report showing that overworked nurses put patients at risk, Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Ohio) renewed their call for Congress to put a stop to mandatory overtime for nurses.

“Requiring nurses to work long shifts poses a serious threat to patient health and it’s crippling the nursing profession,” Rep. Stark said.  “We must stop these unsafe practices now. Mandatory overtime is a critical component driving the nationwide nursing shortage.  This new report clearly demonstrates this troubling fact.”

"We have a national nursing shortage that can't be addressed by forcing nurses to work ridiculously long hours through mandatory overtime. Nurses need to be alert and rested so errors don't take place and patient safety isn't compromised," Rep. LaTourette said.  "The practice of mandatory nurse overtime is driving dedicated nurses away from the profession they love and the patients they care for. Mandatory overtime endangers patient safety, and it's had a devastating effect on the morale of our overworked nurses."

Last week, the journal Health Affairs released a report - the most damning to date - linking longer work shifts with compromised patient safety as well as absenteeism and job dissatisfaction among nurses.   According to the study, nurses who work shifts longer than 12.5 hours are three times more likely to make a medical error than those working less than 8.5 hours. Of the shifts logged for the study, an astounding 40 percent surpassed this 12-hour mark, with the majority of nurses reportedly working over 40 hours per week. 

In response, Stark and LaTourette renewed their call for passage of HR 745, the Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act, legislation they jointly introduced last year to limit mandatory overtime and increase patient safety while curbing the nation’s nursing shortage crisis.  The bill would strictly prohibit nurses from working more than 12 hours in a 24-hour period or 80 hours in a consecutive 14-day period unless there is a declared state of emergency.  If enacted, this legislation would allow nurses to volunteer for overtime if and when they feel they can continue to provide safe, quality care. 

 “My colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree that this issue can no longer be ignored,” said Stark.  “This study has given Congress compelling data to act.”