Section 18.20.400. Limitations on nursing overtime.

   (a) Except as provided in (c) of this section, a nurse in a health care facility may not be required or coerced, directly or indirectly,
        (1) to work beyond a predetermined and regularly scheduled shift that is agreed to by the nurse and the health care facility; or
        (2) to accept an assignment of overtime if, in the judgment of the nurse, the overtime would jeopardize patient or employee safety.
   (b) Except as provided by (c) of this section, after working a predetermined and regularly scheduled shift that is agreed to by the nurse and the health care facility as authorized by (a)(1) of this section, a nurse in a health care facility shall be allowed not less than 10 consecutive hours of off-duty time immediately following the end of that work.
   (c) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply to
        (1) a nurse who is employed by a health care facility providing services for a school, school district, or other educational institution, when the nurse is on duty for more than 14 consecutive hours during an occasional special event, such as a field trip, that is sponsored by the employer;
        (2) a nurse voluntarily working overtime on an aircraft in use for medical transport, so long as the shift worked is allowable under regulations adopted by the Board of Nursing based on accreditation standards adopted by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems;
        (3) a nurse on duty in overtime status
             (A) who is participating in the performance of a medical procedure or surgery that has begun but has not been completed;
             (B) because of an unforeseen emergency situation that could jeopardize patient safety; in this subparagraph, "unforeseen emergency situation" means an unusual, unpredictable, or unforeseen situation caused by an act of terrorism, disease outbreak, natural disaster, major disaster as defined in 42 U.S.C. 5122, or disaster emergency under AS 26.23.020 or 26.23.140, but does not include a situation in which a health care facility has reasonable knowledge of increased patient volume or inadequate staffing because of some other cause, if that cause is foreseeable;
             (C) because the health care facility has a scheduling problem caused by unforeseen weather conditions that prevent a second nurse from arriving at the facility to relieve the nurse on duty; in this subparagraph, "unforeseen weather conditions" means unusual, unpredictable, or unforeseen weather so extreme as to impair travel to the health care facility, but does not include a situation in which the health care facility has knowledge of the weather conditions far enough in advance to act so that a scheduling problem under this subparagraph can reasonably be avoided; or
             (D) at a health care facility located in a rural community that declares a temporary nurse staffing emergency under AS 18.20.410;
        (4) a nurse fulfilling on-call time that is agreed on by the nurse and a health care facility before it is scheduled unless fulfilling the on-call time would, in the nurse's judgment, create an unacceptable risk to the physical safety of the nurse, a patient, or an employee of the facility;
        (5) a nurse voluntarily working overtime so long as the work is consistent with professional standards and safe patient care and does not exceed 14 consecutive hours;
        (6) a nurse voluntarily working beyond 80 hours in a 14-day period so long as the nurse does not work more than 14 consecutive hours without a 10-hour break and the work is consistent with professional standards and safe patient care;
        (7) a nurse who
             (A) is employed
                  (i) at a psychiatric treatment hospital that treats only children or at a residential psychiatric treatment center, as defined under AS 18.07.111, that treats only children; in this sub-subparagraph, "children" means persons under 19 years of age who are receiving psychiatric treatment from a hospital or center or who are residing in a center and who were under 18 years of age on the date that the treatment or period of residence commenced;
                  (ii) at a residential psychiatric treatment center as defined under AS 47.32.900; or
                  (iii) at a secure residential psychiatric treatment center as defined under AS 47.12.990;
             (B) voluntarily agrees to work a 16-hour shift for the period between 5:00 p.m. on a Friday and 8:00 a.m. on the Monday that immediately follows and receives pay and benefits for that work that are equal to or greater than the pay and benefits the nurse would receive for working 20 regular hours in the same position; and
             (C) during the period described in (B) of this paragraph does not work a 16-hour shift consecutive with another shift of eight hours or more without an intervening break of at least eight hours;
        (8) the first two hours on overtime status when the health care facility is obtaining another nurse to work in place of the nurse in overtime status, so long as the nurse in overtime status is not on duty for more than 14 consecutive hours.

Authorities

18.20.410;18.20.420;18.20.430;18.20.440;18.20.460;18.20.470;18.20.499

Notes

Recent Bills that will modify this

HB 170 OVERTIME: CERT. NURSE AIDES & NURSES

References

AS 18.20.410 Temporary nurse staffing emergency.
AS 18.20.420 Health care facility complaint process for overtime work by nurses.
AS 18.20.430 Enforcement, offenses, and penalties.
AS 18.20.440 Prohibition of retaliation.
AS 18.20.460 Provisions not applicable to nurses employed in federal or tribal facilities.
AS 18.20.470 Notice to employees.
AS 18.20.499 Definitions.

History

(Sec. 2 ch 118 SLA 2010)