The nurses' union at University Hospital and hospital officials announced a tentative agreement Friday night on a three-year contract.

        Hospital officials agreed to work with nurses to end mandatory overtime — which emerged as the key issue in negotiations — and promised to end the practice by January 2004.

        Nurses called off a strike notice for midnight Sunday, and will vote on ratification no later than Tuesday.

        The hospital had already emptied about half its beds Friday in anticipation of a possible strike.

        The Registered Nurses Association of University Hospital and hospital officials announced the tentative agreement at 10 p.m. The union represents 884 nurses at the hospital.

        A joint statement said the tentative agreement “addresses the nurses' issues of mandatory overtime and establishes structures for collaboration to address staffing issues.”

        The parties met over 21 sessions for 12 straight days. “It was pretty much around the clock,” said Mary Murphy, co-chair of the RNA.

        “This is the first time that an agreement to end mandatory overtime has been reached without a strike,” said Mike Haas, the other RNA co-chair.

        He called mandatory overtime the leading cause of the nationwide nursing shortage.

        “We feel that this agreement will help address the issues underlying the current nursing shortage,” said Dr. James Hurst, senior vice president of University Hospital.

        Earlier Friday, the number of patients in the hospital had been reduced to 195, according to Gail Myers, spokeswoman for the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, the system that includes University Hospital. The hospital has 430 beds.

        The Concerned Nurses Coalition, formed several years ago in response to hospitals replacing registered nurses with lesser-trained nurse aides, had sent an open letter Thursday to nurses outlining concerns.

        Among the biggest concerns cited:

        • Mandatory overtime. This includes not letting nurses go home once their shift ends and ordering people to come to work on off days. Once a policy used only during unusual surges of patients, mandatory overtime has become routine.

        • Staffing levels. Nurses say the hospital hasn't hired enough nurses.

        Ending mandatory overtime “is in everyone's interest,” Ms. Murphy said. “The hospital recognizes mandatory overtime is not safe for patient care.”

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