Nurses celebrate state Senate passage of bipartisan mandatory RN overtime bills

Note: Video of the 4/15 press conference before Senate session is available here. The opening speaker is MNA President Aaron McCormick. Links to the text of the bills are at the end of this press release

LANSING – The state Senate passed a bipartisan package of bills Wednesday (4/15) that prohibit the excessive use of mandatory nurse overtime in Michigan hospitals.

There is no law limiting the number of consecutive hours a nurse can be forced to work. Since hospital nurses typically work 12-hour shifts, being mandated to stay over can mean shifts of 16, 18 or even more hours. Nurses currently do not have the right to say no. This leads to nurses being forced to provide care while exhausted, putting patients at risk and leading nurses to quit hospital work.

Participants in the Michigan Nurses Association’s Capitol Action Day, a yearly legislative advocacy event, watched as the Senate passed Senate Bills 296 and 297, sponsored by Sens. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) and Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Township) respectively.

“Mandatory overtime should only be used in rare circumstances, not every day as a staffing strategy like it is right now in hospitals across the state,” said Aaron McCormick, RN, president of the Michigan Nurses Association. “Banning the abuse of mandatory overtime will help every hospital nurse in Michigan, making the workplace more sustainable for us and safer for the patients we take care of. Senators Chang and McBroom were relentless in bringing these reforms home because they truly listened to nurses and respected what we need.”

McCormick said MNA members are grateful for the broad support from so many legislators over the years and MNA is looking forward to building on this momentum to advance the bills in the House.

He noted that there is no shortage of available nurses in Michigan; rather, there is a shortage of nurses willing to work under workplace conditions like excessive mandatory overtime.

“Forcing nurses to continue providing critical care for hours on end — while exhausted and sleep deprived — is unsafe for patients and worsens our nursing crisis,” Chang said. “Our hardworking nurses are crucial to getting Michiganders well, and guardrails to protect them from grueling required overtime are long overdue. I am excited that the Senate took bipartisan action to advance real solutions for the safety of nurses and patients.”

McBroom said: “I’m honored to have worked with nurses from my district and across Michigan on this commonsense plan to improve nurses’ work conditions as well as patient outcomes. We have safe limits on working hours for other workers like truck drivers, airline pilots and locomotive drivers; nurses have people’s lives in their hands and need these protections, too.”

The legislation allows nurses to volunteer for overtime as long as they feel able to provide safe care. It also provides for exceptions in circumstances such as natural disasters, mass casualty events, or an ongoing patient care procedure.

The bills were sent to the Government Operations Committee in the House, where they now await a hearing. If they are enacted into law, Michigan will become the 19th state with restrictions on mandatory nurse overtime in hospitals.

Data show that the practice of mandatory overtime is a factor in the continuing nurse staffing crisis: 

• Forty-two percent of Michigan licensed nurses surveyed would be more likely to work in direct care if mandatory overtime were eliminated, according to independent research conducted in 2023.*1​
• Mandatory overtime was associated with a higher likelihood of departure from nursing in the past two years, according to a 2022 University of Michigan survey of more than 10,000 Michigan licensed nurses.*2

Capitol Action Day was the culmination of MNA’s Week of Action, in which members across the state held rallies and informational pickets to advocate for fair contracts and affirm that nurses’ work conditions are patients’ care conditions.

Text of the bills is available at these links: SB 296 and SB 297.
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1 Emma White Research: Survey of Registered Nurses Living or Working in Michigan. Commissioned by the Michigan Nurses Association. January 23, 2023
2 Barbara Medvec, et al: “Patterns and Correlates of Nurse Departures From the Health Care Workforce: Results From a Statewide Study.” Medical Care. May 2023
 
The Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) is the largest union and professional association for registered nurses and healthcare professionals in the state. MNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United and AFL-CIO.