• About ANA
• FAQs
• Media Resources
• Contact Us
• Site Map

• ANA
  Marketplace
  • ANANurseSpace.org
  • Member Discounts and Benefits
  • Nursesbooks.org
  • ANA Periodicals
  • ANA Cash Rewards Mall
  • Advertising
  • National Nurses Week Products
• Careers &
  Credentialing
  • ANA Nurse's Career Center
  • About Nursing
  • Continuing Education
  • Certification
  • Magnet Recognition Program®
  • Get Accredited as a CE Provider
• Professional
  Nursing Practice
  • Workplace
  • Patient Safety & Quality
  • Ethics & Standards
  • Knowledge & Education
  • Documentation & Informatics
  • Regulation and Accountability for Practice
  • Info for Members
• Health Care
  Policy
  • ANA Reports
  • ANA Position Statements
  • Disaster Preparedness & Response
  • Health System Reform
  • Health of the Public
• Government
  Affairs
  • Federal Government Affairs
  • State Government Affairs
  • Take Action
  • ANA PAC
  • Election 2008 Action Center
  • Capitol Update
• Occupational &
  Environment
  • Occupational Health
  • Environmental Health/RNnoHarm

Workplace Advocacy

ANA with its partners and through its organizational relationships is a leader in promoting improved work environments and the value of nurses as professionals, essential providers and decision makers in all practice settings. ANA protect, defends and educates nurses about their rights as employees under the law – by addressing the growing number of occupational hazards that threaten nurses, such as needle stick injuries, latex sensitivity, back injuries and violence.

Each position statement has a summary which is available to all site visitors. ANA members should click on the title of the statement to view the full version.

Position Statements

Documents

• Position Statement: Assuring Patient Safety: The Employers' Role In Promoting Healthy Nursing Work Hours for Registered Nurses in All Roles and Settings - 12/08/06 [pdf]
  ANA Position: Given the well-documented relationship between nurse fatigue and an increased risk of nurse error with the potential for compromising patient care and safety, it is the position of the American Nurses Association that all employers of registered nurses should ensure sufficient system resources to provide the individual registered nurse in all roles and settings with: 1. a work schedule that provides for adequate rest and recuperation between scheduled work; and 2. sufficient compensation and appropriate staffing systems that foster a safe and healthful environment in which the registered nurse does not feel compelled to seek supplemental income through overtime, extra shifts, and other practices that contribute to worker fatigue.
• Position Statement: Assuring Patient Safety: Registered Nurses' Responsibility in All Roles and Settings to Guard Against Working When Fatigued - 12/08/06 [pdf]
  ANA Position: The American Nurses Association (ANA) takes the position that, regardless of the number of hours worked, each registered nurse has an ethical responsibility to carefully consider her/his level of fatigue when deciding whether to accept any assignment extending beyond the regularly scheduled work day or week, including a mandatory or voluntary overtime assignment.
• Position Statement: Elimination of Manual Patient Handling to Prevent Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders - 6/21/03[pdf]
  Summary: In order to establish a safe environment of care for nurses and patients, the American Nurses Association (ANA) supports actions and policies that result in the elimination of manual patient handling. Patient handling, such as lifting, repositioning, and transferring, has conventionally been performed by nurses. The performance of these tasks exposes nurses to increased risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. With the development of assistive equipment, such as lift and transfer devices, the risk of musculoskeletal injury can be significantly reduced. Effective use of assistive equipment and devices for patient handling creates a safe healthcare environment by separating the physical burden from the nurse and ensuring the safety, comfort, and dignity of the patient.
• Position Statement: Work Release During a Disaster - Guidelines for Employers - 6/24/02 (pdf)
  Summary: The American Nurses Association, which represents the 2.7 million registered nurses in the United States, recommends that employers adopt the following work release policy to guide the process of releasing registered nurses from work for the purpose of addressing a disaster. A companion position statement entitled: "Registered Nurses' Rights and Responsibilities Related to Work Release During a Disaster" clarifies the role of the Registered Nurse who wishes to participate in disaster relief work. ANA strongly believes that registered nurses should be released as part of organized medical rescue teams during disasters, however individual nurses may still want to respond and should be given due consideration.
• Position Statement: Registered Nurses' Rights and Responsibilities Related to Work Release During a Disaster - 6/24/02 (pdf)
  Summary: The American Nurses Association, which represents the 2.7 million registered nurses in the United States, recommends that registered nurses use the following guidelines to clarify the process of release from work for the purpose of addressing a disaster. A companion position statement entitled "Work Release During a Disaster - Guidelines for Employers" offers guidance for healthcare employers in establishing work release policies and procedures during a disaster. The American Nurses Association strongly believes that nurses should be released as part of organized medical teams; however, individual nurses may still want to respond and should be given due consideration.
• Position Statement: Opposition to Mandatory Overtime - 10/17/01
  Summary: Shortages of available or experienced nurses have added another dimension to inadequate staffing brought about through purposeful restructuring, downsizing and substitution of unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) for registered nurse staff in hospitals. The use of mandatory overtime as a solution to nurse staffing shortages is rampant today, and is pushing nurses beyond their capacity to work safely and to provide appropriate, quality care to patients. Nearly half of the respondents to a recent ANA staffing survey reported mandatory overtime being used to cover staffing shortages (ANA Staffing Survey, 2001). In addition, inadequate staffing is a source of nurses' job dissatisfaction, further contributing to the problem of recruitment and retention of nurses, and with the attraction of new talent to the profession. The absence of prohibitions or limitations on overtime work may contribute to health care errors, as well as work-related illnesses and injuries among nursing staff. ANA opposes the use of mandatory overtime as a staffing tool. Only individuals are capable of determining their capacity to work beyond their predetermined, regular work schedules. No employee of a health care facility should be required or forced to work overtime. Individual nurses are expected to exercise their critical judgment in determining their ability to provide safe patient care.
• Position Statement: Latex Allergy - 9/15/97
  SUMMARY: Natural rubber latex allergy is a serious medical problem for a growing number of patients and a disabling occupational disease among health care workers. Latex allergy develops from exposure to natural rubber latex, a plant cytosol that is used extensively to manufacture medical gloves, other medical devices, and numerous consumer products. Allergic reactions to latex range from skin disease to asthma and anaphylaxis that can result in chronic illness, disability, career loss, hardship, and death. There is no treatment for latex allergy except complete avoidance of latex. Patients and health care providers must be assured safety from iatrogenic sensitization and allergic reactions to latex. Therefore, the American Nurses Association supports immediate interventions to reduce the risk of latex sensitization and ensure safe outcomes for latex-sensitized patients and personnel in all health care settings. Successful interventions will require collaboration between health care providers and administrators, with support from the research community, government agencies, manufacturers, professional organizations, sensitized patients, and patient advocacy groups.
• Position Statement: The Right to Accept or Reject an Assignment - 7/02/95
  Summary: The American Nurses Association (ANA) believes that nurses should reject any assignment that puts patients or themselves in serious, immediate jeopardy. ANA supports the nurses obligation to reject an assignment in these situations even where there is not a specific legal protection for rejecting such an assignment. The professional obligations of the nurse to safeguard clients are grounded in the ethical norms of the profession, the Standards of Clinical Nursing Practice and state nurse practice acts.
• Position Statement: Restructuring, Work Redesign, and the Job and Career Security of Registered Nurses - 3/30/95
  Summary: The American Nurses Association (ANA) is committed to safeguarding the public, protecting and advancing the careers of professional nurses, supporting individual and collective efforts by registered nurses to protect their clients and enhancing the professional development and job security of registered nurses. As the nation's health care system is restructured, ANA is actively engaged in initiatives to strengthen the economic and general welfare of registered nurses, the safety and care for the public, and, in partnership with the state nurses associations (SNAs), oppose efforts to replace registered nurses with inappropriate substitutes.
• Position Statement: Polygraph Testing of Health Care Workers - 12/08/94
  Summary: ANA opposes the use of polygraph testing for making employment decisions, because it violates privacy, and gives inconclusive results.
• Position Statement: Sexual Harassement - 4/02/93
  Summary: ANA is deeply committed to the principles of civil rights and opposes any form of discrimination against individuals or groups of individuals based on sex, race, age, national origin, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. ANA believes that nurses and students of nursing have a right to and responsibility for a workplace free of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment has an adverse impact on the health care environment.