Senator Antonio Presents Testimony On Bill Prohibiting Mandatory Nurse Overtime
Last week, I had the opportunity to join Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) as we presented sponsor testimony to the Senate Health Committee on Senate Bill 129, which would make Ohio the 19th state in the country to prohibit mandatory overtime for nurses as a condition of employment.
According to various studies done by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, excessive work and overtime can result in negative outcomes for both patients and nurses. A 2016 Johns Hopkins report found that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US, behind heart disease and cancer.
It's important to note that, under this bill, nurses would still be permitted to work voluntary overtime. Hospitals will simply be prohibited from terminating employment or taking disciplinary action because a nurse chooses not to work overtime. There is also a clause in SB 129 that allows hospitals to be exempt from the requirements of the bill if there is a health care disaster, emergency declaration, influx of patients with specified criteria, or an ongoing procedure the nurse is actively engaged in.
As we continue to battle the Covid-19 pandemic, we have become keenly aware of the importance of our healthcare workers, yet we have also seen unprecedented turnover and staff shortages in their field. I believe this legislation will incentivize nurses to stay at the bedside by normalizing staffing schedules in a way that is sustainable for their mental health, wellbeing and delivery of good patient care.
If you have questions about this bill or any others, my staff, Erin Glossop and Jon Schlosser, are always here to serve you. Call us at 614-466-5123 or email us at antonio@ohiosenate.gov and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Nickie Antonio
State Senator Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) is honored to be serving in the Ohio Senate, representing District 23, and in leadership as the Assistant Minority Leader. Antonio, who was elected to the Senate in 2018, previously spent eight years in the Ohio House of Representatives, where she served District 13 and was also a member of leadership. Antonio has served as a Lakewood City Councilmember, Executive Director of an outpatient drug and alcohol treatment program for women, Adjunct Professor and as a teacher for children with special needs.
Antonio serves as Highest Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Transportation, and Joint Medicaid Oversight Committees. She also serves on the Finance; Ways and Means; Workforce and Higher Education; Rules and Reference; and Joint Legislative Ethics Committees. Additionally, she is a member of the Ohio House Democratic Women's Caucus, previously as chair, and is the State Director for the National Women Legislators’ Lobby.
She has been a dedicated champion of workers’ rights, high-quality education, local governments, equal rights for women and the LGBT community, health care for all and fighting the opioid crisis.
Antonio is recognized as a leader who reaches across the aisle to get things done. As a result, she championed Ohio’s historic adoption open records law (S.B. 23/H.B. 61) and step therapy reform law (S.B. 265/H.B. 72). Last General Assembly, Antonio passed legislation to abolish the shackling of pregnant inmates (S.B. 18/H.B. 1) and to require pharmacist education for dispensing life-saving naloxone (S.B. 59/H.B. 341). During her tenure in the Ohio legislature, Antonio has introduced the Ohio Fairness Act, which would provide civil rights protections for members of the LGBTQ community. She continues to work to remedy and end Ohio’s use of the death penalty, as well as on an array of other bills focused on improving the lives of all Ohioans. Antonio continues to be an established expert in health policy in the General Assembly.
The first in her family to graduate from college, she holds both an MPA and a B.S. Ed. from Cleveland State University, and she was named a CSU Distinguished Alumni in 2013. She is also an alumnus and Bohnett Fellow of the Kennedy School Harvard Leadership Program (2011) and has been the recipient of numerous awards as legislator of the year from various organizations during her tenure.
Her daughters, Ariel and Stacey, have made Antonio and her wife, Jean Kosmac, very proud as the girls engage in their adult life journeys.