Nurses' Station

By DEBORAH A. MILES
In four months state agencies must comply with the 2008 state law prohibiting mandatory overtime for nurses. Gov. David Paterson allowed the state almost a year to prepare for the transition which officially takes place July 1.

The state Office of Mental Health (OMH) already has implemented a pilot program at six facilities. For the most part, it is working out very well.

The facilities involved with the MOT pilot program are Hutchings Psychiatric Center (PC), Greater Binghamton Health Center, Hudson River PC, Manhattan PC, Western New York Children’s PC, and Central New York Forensic PC.
The OMH pilot program began in late October 2008. It recruits more per-diem nurses; uses a roster of on-call nurses; expands the voluntary overtime procedures by posting one month earlier the schedule with available overtime; and develops a preference list for days and shifts nurses might be willing to voluntarily cover with overtime.

“Hudson River PC saw a 60 percent reduction in mandatory overtime in the first payroll period after the pilot program began, as compared to the same payroll period last year,” said Marianne Albamont, a PEF Executive Board representative and an intensive case manager.

“By the third payroll period, the reduction was approximately 82 percent in overtime rates compared to last year for the same period. In the last payroll period, there was actually zero mandatory overtime for our nurses for the first time I can remember,” Albamont said.

“Management is surprised by the results and not quite believing what it’s seeing at Hudson PC. They did implement almost all the suggestions we made, and they are also seeing the dramatic decrease in the unscheduled time off by nurses as we predicted.”

Albamont said each facility is doing something different to get its numbers down because they each have different issues. At Manhattan PC, for example, the focus is on 12-hour shifts. The result is less mandatory overtime and the increased ability to hire and retain more nurses.

Kevin Conley, a psychiatric nurse 2 and PEF Executive Board member at Central New York PC, said the 12-hour shift has made a big difference at his facility too.

“The nurses love it,” Conley said. “They are doing everything they can to make it work.”

Some of the steps to reduce mandatory overtime at Central New York PC included the early posting of vacant shifts; implementing the 12-hour shift; hiring nurses to fill part-and full-time positions; creating centralized scheduling; and having nurse administrators cover the wards when necessary.

Conley and Albamont agreed, “The key to success is management and labor working together.”

Other state agencies that will have to comply with the Mandatory Overtime Law and establish programs are the Department of Correctional Services, Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Department of Health, Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services, and the State University of New York.