Bill limits forced nurse overtime at hospitals to protect patient safety.
H.R. 10056 — Nurse Overtime and Patient Safety Act of 2026 · Filed by Doris Matsui (D-CA) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Aug 6, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill stops hospitals from forcing nurses to work more than 48 hours per week. Nurses cannot work 12 hours in a row or during their 10-hour rest period, except in emergencies. Hospitals that break these rules pay up to $10,000 per violation. Nurses can report problems without fear of losing their jobs.
Who it affects
Nurses get limits on forced overtime and job protection. Hospitals must follow new scheduling rules. Patients may benefit from nurses who are less tired.
One thing to notice
The bill lets hospitals ignore overtime limits during declared emergencies. But it does not count labor disputes or simple understaffing as emergencies.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Aug 6, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Aug 6, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (14,488 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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