mandatory overtime in nursing

p Mandatory Overtime in Nursing

Introduction

Nursing is perhaps the noblest and the tedious-most of all the professions in the world . It is the unusual nature of work i .e continuous and intimate association with pain and death , which makes this professional an exceptional one . It is not everybody 's job . Not every women or man feel themselves capable of undertaking this kind of job or duties of a nurse

Groups in Nurses

Nurses who go to the homes to attend the sick are called Visiting Nurses . Some nurses assist

doctors and dentists in their office , while others work in medical clinics , in schools , in stores and factories There are specially trained nurses who work in the armed forces , and on ships , trains , and airplanes . Nurses may be found wherever their skills are needed i .e . in big cities , small towns , and farm areas in all parts of the world

The three main groups of nurses are

Professional Nurses and (graduates of 4 to 5 year college programs

Technical Nurses (graduates of 2-year community college or 3- year hospital programs

Practical Nurses undergo 12 months training program . They perform duties to relieve professional and technical nurses for other tasks requiring more preparation

Besides hospitals , nurses also work in other institutions as nursing homes and mental hospitals . Nurses working in these institutions are equipped with specialized knowledge and training because of the special nature of patients ' needs

Shortage of Nurses is the underlying cause of Overtime

Nursing , undoubtedly , is an embattled profession , and many nurses working in hospitals feel that they are overworked and often unable to provide good patient care . The young people who traditionally have embarked on careers in nursing are increasingly choosing other fields such as medicine or business , because they feel they might not get as overstressed and over-fatigued as in nursing . Therefore due to the shortage of nurses , mandatory overtime had been a necessary evil since long

AFT Healthcare Efforts to Ban Overtime in Nursing

News about the shortage of nurses are heard everywhere . But virtually there are two real shortages

A declining number of new workers

Thousands of current workers who are in the process of leaving their chosen field

Surveys have shown that the exodus of registered nurses directly attribute to the difficult working conditions , including inadequate staffing , mandatory overtime and insufficient compensation . And most importantly many healthcare workers who are forced to work mandatory overtime say that the time away from their families has caused marital and child care problems and a general decline in the emotional well being of their families . Thus mandatory overtime strongly affects workers ' relationships with spouses , children and friends

Mandatory Overtime Bill

AFT Healthcare has been working with its state affiliates in Connecticut , Maryland , New Jersey and Oregon to ban the practice of mandatory overtime . She has recently won legislative and regulatory bans on the use of mandatory overtime . The New Jersey legislation is presently the strongest in the nation . The AFT Healthcare has joined with other AFL-CIO unions...