LANSING- Two bills have passed the Senate to limit the amount of mandatory overtime hours hospitals can require nurses to work.

According to a Senate Fiscal Agency analysis, nurses are not protected by mandatory overtime limitations in ways that most other professions are.

Other health care professions are also impacted by lack of mandatory overtime restrictions.

That can lead to burnout and fatigue among nurses, as well as potentially causing them to leave the profession, according to the Medical Safety and Global Health Journal.

It also said that the burnout faced by nurses may have resulted in errors, contributing to hospital deaths.

One of the bills would require hospitals to provide a nurse with eight consecutive hours of off-duty time within a 72-hour period.

According to an analysis from the University of Michigan’s School of Nursing, 93% of nurses in the state surveyed reported significant exhaustion.

One of its proposed workplace changes included eliminating mandatory overtime.

Aaron McCormick, the Michigan Nurses Association president, said in a press conference that the misuse of mandatory overtime places unnecessary demands on nurses and puts patient safety at risk.

The association is a labor union representing hospital nurses.

McCormick also said that the bills would put guardrails in place to ensure that mandatory overtime is reserved for emergencies, instead of being used as a routine staffing practice.

Renee Toth, a nurse in the post-anesthesia care unit of Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, said that she had experienced many instances where she could not leave after her shift had ended.

“There was no nurse to cover my patients, and if I left, that would be considered patient abandonment, which has severe implications not just on our conscience, but our nursing licenses,” Toth said.

The Michigan Health and Hospital Association had previously expressed concerns with the bills.

However, Amy Brown, its chief nursing officer, said that the association appreciates the Senate’s willingness to listen to nurses at the hospital level.

These bills are sponsored by Sens. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit and Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan.

Cosponsors include Sens. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit and Rosemary Bayer, D-West Bloomfield.

The legislation is pending in the House Government Operations Committee.