Surviving the perfect storm: staff perceptions of mandatory overtime

Historically, mandatory overtime has been used to provide adequate staffing in times of crisis; however, as a result of today's severe nursing shortage, hospitals and other healthcare institutions are more commonly using mandatory overtime as a daily management tool to meet staffing requirements. This practice has created turmoil between management and staff in providing quality healthcare. Nursing literature describing staff nurses' views of overtime is limited. This article offers a description of the environment at the Hospital for Sick Children, a private nonprofit rehabilitation and transitional care pediatric hospital in Washington, DC, and the challenges the hospital faces in staffing the patient care units. This article also reports the results of the hospital's efforts to poll the nursing staff on their opinions regarding both voluntary and mandatory overtime and identifies conditions that influence the nursing staff's decisions and perceptions about overtime. Survey results will be used to modify existing staffing strategies and implement new staffing policies.