MI lawmakers push nurse staffing requirements

Telling horror stories of long hours and stressed, overtired nurses caring for patients on the verge of death, lawmakers and nurse advocates on Thursday called for a state law establishing mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios and prohibiting mandatory overtime. Nurses around the country say they're frequently asked to work double shifts to cover staffing shortages. Several nurses from the five state-run psychiatric hospitals, for example, told the State Journal earlier this month they're worked to the point of exhaustion because of excessive mandatory overtime. John Armelagos , president of the Michigan Nurses Association backing the legislation, told of a Livonia nurse who couldn't get to an elderly patient because she had too many others to care for.