[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 14 (Thursday, February 10, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1279-S1280]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Akaka, Mrs. Boxer, 
        Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Inouye, 
        Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lieberman, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. 
        Sarbanes, and Mr. Reed):
  S. 351. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to 
provide for patient protection by limiting the number of mandatory 
overtime hours a nurse may be required to work in certain providers of 
services to which payments are made under the Medicare Program; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is a privilege to join my colleagues, 
Senators Kerry, Clinton, Sarbanes, Corzine, Mikulski, Dodd, Levin, 
Reed, Lieberman, Feingold, Inouye, and Akaka in introducing the Safe 
Nursing and Patient Care Act.
  Current Federal safety standards limit work hours for pilots, flight 
attendants, truck drivers, railroad engineers and other professionals, 
in order to protect the public safety. However, no similar limitation 
currently exists for the nation's nurses, who care for so many of our 
most vulnerable citizens.
  The Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act will limit mandatory overtime 
for nurses in order to protect patient safety and improve working 
conditions for nurses. Across the country, the widespread practice of 
mandatory overtime means that over-worked nurses are often providing 
care in unacceptable circumstances. A recent study from the University 
of Pennsylvania School of Nursing found that nurses who work shifts of 
twelve and a half hours or more are three times more likely to commit 
an error than nurses who work a standard shift of eight and a half

[[Page S1280]]

hours or less. Restrictions for mandatory overtime will help ensure 
that nurses are able to provide the highest quality of care to their 
patients.
  Some hospitals have already taken action to deal with this serious 
problem. Over the last few years in Massachusetts, Brockton Hospital 
and St. Vincent Hospital agreed to limit mandatory overtime as part of 
negotiations following successful strikes by nurses. These limits will 
protect patients and improve working conditions for the nurses, and 
will help in the recruitment and retention of nurses in the future.
  Job dissatisfaction and harsh overtime hours are major factors in the 
current shortage of nurses. Nationally, the shortfall is expected to 
rise to 20 percent in coming years. A major goal of the Safe Nursing 
and Patient Care Act is to improve the quality of life for nurses, so 
that more persons will enter the nursing profession and remain in it.
  Improving conditions for nurses is an essential part of our ongoing 
effort to reduce medical errors, improve patient outcomes, and 
encourage more Americans to become and remain nurses. The Safe Nursing 
and Patient Care Act is a significant step that Congress can take to 
support better quality care for all Americans, and improve working 
conditions for our nation's nurses, and I urge my colleagues to support 
it.
                                 ______