Committee Substitute
House Bill 2436 History
OTHER VERSIONS -
Introduced Version
|
Enrolled Version - Final Version
|
| Email
Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2436
(
By By Delegates Hatfield, Hrutkay, Martin,
Brown, Perdue and Caputo
)
(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)
[February 22, 2007]
A BILL to amend and reenact §21-5F-3 and §21-5F-4
of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to modifying the
Nurse Overtime and Patient Safety Act; requiring posting of
notice of nurse's rights; requiring Commissioner of Labor to
have a notification procedure, including signs that must be
posted;
and requiring commissioner to keep complaints
anonymous until a finding of merit.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §21-5F-3 and §21-5F-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
§21-5F-3. Hospital nursing overtime limitations and requirements.
(a) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), (d), (e) and
(f) of this section, a hospital is prohibited from mandating a
nurse, directly or though coercion, to accept an assignment of
overtime and is prohibited from taking action against a nurse
solely on the grounds that the nurse refuses to accept an assignment of overtime at the facility if the nurse declines to
work additional hours because doing so may, in the nurse's
judgment, jeopardize patient or employee safety.
(b) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (g) of this section,
a nurse may be scheduled for duty or mandated to continue on duty
in overtime status in an unforeseen emergent situation that
jeopardizes patient safety.
(c) Subsections (a) and (g) of this section do not apply when
a nurse may be required to fulfill prescheduled on-call time, but
nothing in this article shall be construed to permit an employer to
use on-call time as a substitute for mandatory overtime.
(d) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (g) of this section,
a nurse may be required to work overtime to complete a single
patient care procedure already in progress, but nothing in this
article shall be construed to permit an employer to use a staffing
pattern as a means to require a nurse to complete a procedure as a
substitute for mandatory overtime.
(e) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply when a
collective bargaining agreement is in place between nurses and the
hospital which is intended to substitute for the provisions of this
article by incorporating a procedure for the hospital to require
overtime.
(f) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply to voluntary
overtime.
(g) In the interest of patient safety, any nurse who works
twelve or more consecutive hours, as permitted by this section,
shall be allowed at least eight consecutive hours of off-duty time
immediately following the completion of the shift. Except as
provided in subsections (b), (c) and (d) of this section, no nurse
shall work more than sixteen hours in a twenty-four hour period.
The nurse is responsible for informing the employer hospital of
other employment experience during the twenty-four hour period in
question if this provision is to be invoked. To the extent that an
on-call nurse has actually worked sixteen hours in a hospital,
efforts shall be made by the hospital to find a replacement nurse
to work.
Each hospital shall designate an anonymous process for
patients and nurses to make staffing complaints related to patient
safety.
(h) Each hospital shall post, in one or more conspicuous
places where notices to nurses are customarily posted, a notice in
a form approved by the commissioner setting forth a nurse's rights
under this article.
§21-5F-4. Enforcement; offenses and penalties.
(a) Pursuant to the powers set forth in article one of this
chapter, the commissioner of labor is charged with the enforcement
of this article. The commissioner shall propose legislative and
procedural rules in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to establish procedures
for enforcement of this article. These rules shall include, but
are not limited to, provisions to protect due process requirements,
a hearings procedure and an appeals procedure,
and a notification
procedure, including any signs that must be posted by the facility.
(b) Any complaint must be filed with the commissioner of labor
regarding an alleged violation of the provisions of this article
must be made within thirty days following the occurrence of the
incident giving rise to the alleged violation. Notification of the
alleged violation must be forwarded to the hospital in question
within three business days of filing.
The Commissioner of Labor
shall keep each complaint anonymous until the commissioner finds
that it has merit. The commissioner shall establish a process for
notifying a hospital of a complaint.
(c) The administrative penalty for the first violation of this
article shall be is a reprimand.
(d) The administrative penalty for the second offense of this
article shall be is a reprimand and a fine not to exceed five
hundred dollars.
(e) The administrative penalty for the third and subsequent
offenses shall have is a fine of not less than two thousand five
hundred dollars and not more than five thousand dollars for each
violation.
(f) To be eligible to be charged of a second offense or third offense under this section, the subsequent offense must occur
within twelve months of the prior offense.
(g)(1) All moneys paid as administrative penalties pursuant to
this section shall be deposited into the Health Care Cost Review
Fund provided by section eight, article twenty-nine-b, chapter
sixteen of this code.
(2) In addition to other purposes for which funds may be
expended from the Health Care Cost Review Fund, the West Virginia
Health Care Authority shall expend moneys from the fund, in amounts
up to but not exceeding amounts received pursuant to subdivision
(1) of this subsection, for the following activities in the State
of West Virginia:
(A) Establishment of scholarships in medical schools;
(B) Establishment of scholarships for nurses training;
(C) Establishment of scholarships in the public health field;
(D) Grants to finance research in the field of drug addiction
and development of cures therefor;
(E) Grants to public institutions devoted to the care and
treatment of narcotic addicts; and
(F) Grants for public health research, education and care.