The Massachusetts Nurses Association (“MNA”) held joint press conferences outside Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester and Tufts Medical Center in Boston on January 19, 2011, to call on Massachusetts legislators to pass bills to impose mandatory staffing ratios and ban mandatory overtime.

This is not the first time the MNA has sought legislated staffing ratios. Last session, the MNA unsuccessfully advocated for passage of the Patient Safety Act, which proposed tasking the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (“DPH”) with setting patient ratios after reviewing studies and holding public hearings. The Patient Safety Act also proposed that the DPH develop a standardized patient acuity system to govern any adjustments to the staffing ratios. The MNA announced at the press conference that it plans to re-file the Patient Safety Act this week.

The MNA also announced its plan to file “An Act Protecting Patients from Preventable Medical Errors by Prohibiting Mandatory Overtime.” This bill would ban hospitals from requiring or permitting nurses and other hospital workers to work more than 12 hours in any given shift or in excess of 16 hours in a 24-hour period, unless there is a declared state or national emergency. In addition, the bill would require hospitals to give nurses who work 12 consecutive hours in a shift at least 8 hours off from work between shifts.

Both Tufts and St. Vincent Hospital are in the midst of union contract negotiations with the MNA and have issued statements suggesting that the MNA was using the press conferences and call to legislators to gain leverage in the negotiations.

This entry was written by Carie Torrence.