00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 271(HES) 01 "An Act relating to limitations on overtime for registered nurses and licensed practical 02 nurses in health care facilities; and providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 05 to read: 06 LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT. The legislature finds that 07 (1) it is essential that registered nurses and licensed practical nurses providing 08 direct patient care be available to meet the needs of patients; 09 (2) quality patient care is jeopardized by registered nurses and licensed 10 practical nurses who work unnecessarily long hours in health care facilities; 11 (3) registered nurses and licensed practical nurses are leaving their profession 12 because of workplace stresses, long work hours, and depreciation of their essential role in the 13 delivery of quality and direct patient care; 14 (4) it is necessary to safeguard the efficiency, health, and general well-being 01 of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, and the health and general well-being of the 02 persons receiving care from registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in health care 03 facilities; 04 (5) it is necessary that registered nurses and licensed practical nurses be made 05 aware of their rights, duties, and remedies concerning hours worked and patient safety; and 06 (6) health care facilities should provide adequate and safe nurse staffing 07 without the need for or use of mandatory overtime. 08 * Sec. 2. AS 18 is amended by adding a new chapter to read: 09 Chapter 09. Overtime Limitations for Nurses. 10 Sec. 18.09.010. Limitations on nursing overtime. (a) Except as provided in 11 (b) of this section, a nurse in a health care facility may not be required or coerced, 12 either directly or indirectly, to accept an assignment of overtime if, in the judgment of 13 the nurse, the overtime would jeopardize patient or employee safety. 14 (b) This section does not apply to 15 (1) a nurse on duty in overtime status because of an unforeseen 16 emergency situation that could otherwise jeopardize patient safety; 17 (2) a nurse fulfilling prescheduled on-call time; 18 (3) a nurse voluntarily working overtime; 19 (4) the first hour on overtime status when the health care facility is 20 obtaining another nurse to work in place of the nurse in overtime status. 21 (c) After working 12 or more consecutive hours, a nurse shall be allowed not 22 less than eight consecutive hours of off-duty time immediately following the end of 23 that period of duty. 24 (d) A health care facility shall provide for an anonymous process for patients 25 and nurses to make complaints related to staffing levels and patient safety. 26 (e) In this section, "unforeseen emergency situation" means an unusual, 27 unpredictable, or unforeseen situation caused by an act of terrorism, disease outbreak, 28 natural disaster, or other act of God, but does not include a situation in which a health 29 care facility has reasonable knowledge of increased patient volume or inadequate 30 staffing because of staff scheduling, vacations, medical leave, or other foreseeable 31 cause. 01 Sec. 18.09.020. Prohibition of retaliation. A health care facility may not 02 discharge, discipline, threaten, discriminate against, penalize, or file a report with the 03 Board of Nursing against a nurse for exercising rights under this chapter or for the 04 good faith reporting of an alleged violation of this chapter. 05 Sec. 18.09.030. Regulations. The commissioner shall administer this chapter 06 and adopt regulations for implementing and enforcing this chapter. In this section, 07 "commissioner" means the commissioner of labor and workforce development. 08 Sec. 18.09.040. Report requirements. A health care facility shall file a 09 semiannual report with the section in the Department of Labor and Workforce 10 Development responsible for research and analysis. The report for the six-month 11 period ending June 30 must be filed before the following August 1, and the report for 12 the six-month period ending December 31 must be filed before the following 13 February 1. The report must include the number of overtime hours worked, the 14 number of overtime hours that were mandatory, the number of overtime hours that 15 were voluntary, the number of on-call hours, the number of on-call hours that were 16 mandatory, and the number of on-call hours that were voluntary for nurses employed 17 by the health care facility. The report must also state the number of hours worked in 18 each month by nurses under contract with the health care facility. The report under this 19 section shall be available for public inspection. 20 Sec. 18.09.900. Definitions. In this chapter, 21 (1) "health care facility" means a private, municipal, state, or federal 22 hospital; psychiatric hospital; independent diagnostic testing facility; residential 23 psychiatric treatment center; skilled nursing facility; kidney disease treatment center 24 (including freestanding hemodialysis units); intermediate care facility; ambulatory 25 surgical facility; Alaska Pioneers' Home or Alaska Veterans' Home administered by 26 the Department of Health and Social Services under AS 47.55; correctional facility 27 administered by the Department of Corrections or the Department of Health and 28 Social Services; private, municipal, state, or federal facility employing one or more 29 public health nurses; long-term care facility; or primary care outpatient facility; 30 (2) "nurse" means an individual licensed to practice registered nursing 31 or practical nursing under AS 08.68 who provides nursing services through direct 01 patient care or clinical services and includes a nurse manager when delivering in- 02 hospital patient care; 03 (3) "on-call" means a status in which a nurse must be ready to report to 04 the health care facility and may be called to work by the health care facility; 05 (4) "overtime" means the hours worked in excess of a predetermined 06 and regularly scheduled shift that is agreed upon by a nurse and a health care facility. 07 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 08 read: 09 APPLICABILITY. The first report required to be filed under AS 18.09.040, enacted in 10 sec. 2 of this Act, shall be filed before February 1, 2007, for the period July 1, 2006, through 11 December 31, 2006. 12 * Sec. 4. AS 18.09.040, enacted in sec. 2 of this Act, and sec. 3 of this Act take effect 13 July 1, 2006. 14 * Sec. 5. Except as provided in sec. 4 of this Act, this Act takes effect January 1, 2007.