Stop Mandatory Overtime
Luisa Leuma

Post

My co-worker at Avenal State Prison worked a double shift. As she was pulling out from the prison, onto the main street, she fell asleep at the wheel and ran into a truck head on. She survived the crash, but was out from work for several months for recovery. She lost time away from work and quality time with her family.

This goes to show how unsafe mandatory overtime can be to the lives of nurses and the public. It didn’t happen to me, but I saw myself in her story. I thought about my children and, as the sole provider for my family, how something like that would leave them.

Every day when we leave our families we hope to return to them. When nurses are mandated to work additional shifts, for a total of 16 hours, time and again it impacts our lives and our decision making. This is just one of hundreds of stories I’ve heard from nurses across California.

As nurses we work to save lives, who is going to save ours?

Luisa Leuma, LVN
Avenal State Prison