Influencing Health Care Through Advocacy

Advocacy Through Legislation
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Advocacy Through Legislation
Problem

Mandatory overtime is a recurring issue in my organization and needs to be addressed before its consequences cause more damage than it currently has. Nurses are forced to work overtime by healthcare facility leaders due to understaffing and high job turnover. Nurses are obligated by the law and their vow to protect people's lives. This makes them accept mandatory overtime placement, though it affects how they perform their tasks. The American Nurses Association (ANA) asserts that overtime is a dangerous staffing problem caused by a shortage of nurses and an increase in patient admission. ANA further argues that mandatory overtime negatively affects patient care, increases medical errors, and drives nurses away from the bedside. In a study published in the Journal of Nursing Administration, Rachel Harrison (2018) from New York University argues that mandatory overtime impedes collaboration at the workplace. Besides the nurse being affected by the mandatory overtime, patients get low-quality services. Fatigued nurses cannot concentrate fully and are likely to give wrong prescriptions.
If not addressed, the issue is likely to affect delivery services in the affected organization negatively. Patients may not be treated to satisfaction because nurses make medical errors when tired. It also risks the mental and physical well-being of nurses who need to be fit and healthy to deliver their best at the workplace. In turn, job turnover remains low because of job satisfaction.

Idea for Addressing Solution

Mandatory overtime is a workplace issue in the nursing sector that needs immediate action, and legislation is the best course to advocate for the changes. All the states in the United States should enact policies that illegalize mandatory overtime and protect nurses from harassment by their employers. The nurses need laws to protect them and force health facilities to develop and enact fatigue management training and education programs. The laws should also apply to public and private healthcare facilities. In most cases, private facilities run strict schedules that overwork employees who do not belong to unions to protect them.
Legislation is the best course for advocacy in addressing the issue of mandatory overtime. The state should always protect its nurses for the good of all healthcare stakeholders. Strong policies will ensure that patients receive the best care and that nurses have a conducive environment to work. They will have enough time to rest before their following shifts. Currently, only 18 states have laws illegalizing mandatory overtime. The rest should pass such laws and only allow overtime during emergencies and critical cases.

Research the Issue

Evidence 1

Mandatory overtime prevents collaboration among nurses. Collaboration is crucial in sharing ideas about clinical problems. Ma et al. (2018) reported that inter and intra-discipline collaboration ensures that all stakeholders play their part diligently and provide high-quality healthcare services. Nurses are among the stakeholders that should always be in the right state physically and...