Bill limits how much overtime nurses must work each week.
S. 5319 — Nurse Overtime and Patient Safety Act · Filed by Jeff Merkley (D-OR) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Aug 6, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill stops hospitals and clinics that take Medicare money from forcing nurses to work too much. Nurses cannot work more than 48 hours per week or 12 hours in a row. Nurses get a 10-hour rest period after a 12-hour shift. Providers can only skip these rules during emergencies. They must try other ways to staff first. Nurses who refuse overtime cannot be punished. Providers must post schedules and overtime rules. Providers face fines up to $10,000 for breaking the rules.
Who it affects
Nurses get stronger protections from exhaustion and unfair treatment. Patients may get safer care because tired nurses make more mistakes. Hospitals and clinics must change how they schedule staff.
One thing to notice
The bill does not start for one year. Unsafe practices can continue until then.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 3 Democrats.
- Aug 6, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Aug 6, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- fines — Money that the government charges a company for breaking a rule.
- emergencies — Sudden, serious situations that need immediate action.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (14,473 characters) on Aug 20, 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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