Dear UAN e-Activist,

As a nurse, you know that nurses are the only ones who can accurately determine whether they are too fatigued to work beyond their shift.

Please act now to tell Congress what you know, as a staff nurse, about the dangers of forced overtime.

The House of Representatives may move soon to consider Rep. Pete Stark’s “Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act of 2007” (H.R. 2122), which would limit mandatory overtime by nurses except in declared emergencies.  But we need more cosponsors to sign on to the bill—it has only 45 so far, compared to 101 in the last session of Congress—to ensure its success.

Contact your Congressional representative today to urge him or her to put an end to the dangerous practice of forcing nurses to work beyond their shift when it is unsafe.  If your representative has already signed on as a cosponsor (go to http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR02122:@@@P to see if they have), thank them for their support for this important measure.

Call or email your representative today (call 202-224-3121 for the Capitol switchboard or go to http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml to find your representative’s email address) to urge him or her to put an end to mandatory overtime abuse.

Thank you for making nurses’ voices heard on this important issue!

P.S.  Go to www.UANNurse.org to learn more about H.R. 2122 and banning forced overtime for nurses.