The policy discussed in this case is the Mandatory Overtime policy which is prevalent in the medical profession. Notably, the mandatory overtime attests that healthcare professions can work beyond the required forty hours per week and the decision lies with the employer. To solve the challenge, lobbying for a change of the policy at the federal level and introducing part-time nurses proves to be advantageous.
Mandated Overtime Practice
The mandated overtime in the healthcare profession has been under criticism for a long time. The healthcare profession is quite sensitive and if anything, it is right to comment that it is a critical determinant on the wellness of the public in as far as healthy living is concerned. With this in mind, it is essential to provide that everyone gets medical attention at the time of need and in addition to this, it should be of quality. Attention before introducing the mandatory policy brewed when there was a shortage of medical-surgical staff, and this led to deprived quality in the healthcare industry (Bae & Yoon, 2014). With no restriction on working overtime, it was imperative to work a way around the issue at hand. The result is that the mandated overtime was introduced. Mandatory overtime was made legal under the federal law although it is closely regulated by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It is due to this that hospitals started to have their workers work more than 40 hours a week in cases where there was short. According to DOL (2017), any overtime served by an employee attracts 50% compensation of what he/she earns in the normal shift. It is in this regard that the mandatory overtime was thought to bring a balance.
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Critique of The Existing Policy
With 60% of nurses in the US has worked in at least one form of overtime, it is not hard to notice how prevalent the practice is in the country (Wheatley, 2017). The challenge with the mandatory overtime policy is that it renders healthcare professions inefficient as a result of exhaustion. Notably, a healthcare profession is likely to make an error once he/she works for more than twelve hours and is, thus, fatigued. In this respect, allowing mandatory hours is gambling with the patients’ lives. The issue of overtime should be voluntary rather than compulsory considering each person including nurses and surgeons deserve to have autonomy over such vital choices.
Recommendations
Judging by the potential risks of mandatory overtime in the health profession, it is only right that better strategies are recommended to solve the same. The primary issue that led to the introduction of the policy is the shortage of nurses and efforts to cut on costs (Wheatley, 2017). The first step to solving the problem should be to lobby for a change of policy at the federal level (Wheatley, 2017). The crucial factor is not to scrap overtime but to make it voluntary such that each professional will work within their physical and mental limits. Second, the cost factor should be addressed strategically and if anything, part-time nurses should be introduced to cover up the costs while at the same time addressing nurses’ shortage (Bae & Yoon, 2014). Implementation of these recommendations should bear in mind that being served by a fatigued surgeon or nurse is as good as having no one by your side.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the mandatory overtime policy which was introduced to address a nurses’ shortage and cut on costs has more disadvantages than advantages in the healthcare industry. It is evident that medical errors emanate from fatigued nurses and other medical staff. In the end, lobbying for changes in the mandatory overtime policy at the federal level and introducing part-time nurses proves to be vital to address the challenges.
References
Bae, S. & Yoon, J. (2014). Impact of states’ nurse work hour regulations on overtime practices and work hours among registered nurses. Health Services Research, 49(5), pp. 1638-1658.
DOL (2017). Wage and hour division (WHD). Retrieved from www.dol.gov/whd/overtime_pay.htm
Wheatley, C. (2017). Nursing overtime: Should it be regulated? Nursing Economics, 35(4), pp. 213-217.
