Overtime Issues
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.