As National Nurses Week approaches, New York
seeks ‘Safe Staffi ng’ for the state’s caregivers
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
The names and images of no
fewer than three dozen New York
nurses who died of COVID-19
line a digital memorial that the
New York State Nurses Association
(NYSNA) created to honor
their sacrifi ce on the front lines
of the pandemic battle.
In many ways, the memorial
serves as a continued reminder
of the pandemic’s cost as well
as the need to ensure that all
nurses in New York receive the
proper protection and staffi ng
to safely care for their patients.
With New York set to observe
National Nurses Week
(May 6-12) — an annual salute
recognizing the caregivers who
work tireless to heal and comfort
the sick — the nurses of the
Empire State are set to receive
some much-needed support
from Albany.
On Tuesday, New York lawmakers
are scheduled to pass
two bills aimed at creating “Safe
Staffi ng” standards for medical
centers in the Empire State.
Such standards — which include
establishing a minimum
patient-to-nurse ratio — have
been items for which nurses
have long advocated, but had
been put on the back burner
by Albany lawmakers. The
COVID-19 pandemic, however,
exposed the critical situation
nurses too often face in acute
and long-term care facilities after
years of budget cuts and reduced
staffi ng.
As Nancy Hagens, NYSNA
treasurer and a registered
nurse at Maimonides Hospital
in Brooklyn, described it, the
staff quickly adapted as the pandemic
struck last year.
“Overnight, our med-surg
(medical/surgical) nurses had
to become ICU nurses,” Hagens
said Tuesday during a press
conference on the Safe Staffi ng
bills. “You could imagine we
were at a defi cit to begin with.
Now, we have the pandemic, and
as nurses, we have to do what we
needed to do in order to care for
our patients and save as many
lives as we can. We truly believe
that if we had enough staffi ng, if
we had a nurse-patient ratio, we
could have saved more lives.”
Aja Sciortino, a nurse
in the pediatric ICU unit at
Westchester Medical Center,
underscored that point, emphasizing
that studies from the National
Institute of Health and
others have demonstrated that a
patient’s health is largely dependent
upon how well the nurses
File photo
are able to care for them.
“We had situations where
we needed one-to-one patient to
nurse ratios, but sometimes we
were up to two to three patients
to one nurse,” Sciortino said.
“Three patients to one nurse
puts nurses in danger, especially
if they (the patients) have
a high acuity, and are critically
ill. These types of staffi ng
issues affect nursing satisfaction.
They endanger nursing
licensure and it leads to nursing
burnout. Even more importantly,
it affects the safety of our
patients.”
The Safe Staffi ng legislation
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 32 URSES WEEK, MAY 7-13, 2021 BTR
will mandate that hospitals
adopt staffi ng plans created by
committees of frontline registered
nurses and other health
care staff at each facility. These
plans will “clearly indicate patient
assignments for nurses
and other direct care staff by
unit and shift,” according to the
NYSNA.
Hospitals across the Empire
State will be required to abide
by the staffi ng plans, with the
state Health Department (DOH)
taking the lead on enforcing
them, the NYSNA noted. Members
of the public will also be
able to view the staffi ng plans
for each hospital on the DOH
website.
The legislation also includes
a mandate that the DOH create
new minimal staffi ng standards
for intensive care and
critical care units statewide by
Jan. 1, 2022.
Bronx state Senator Gustavo
Rivera and Orange County Assemblywoman
Aileen Gunther
sponsored the Safe Staffi ng
bills due to pass both chambers
of the state legislature Tuesday,
and be sent to the desk of Governor
Andrew Cuomo for his signature.
Rivera called the bills’ imminent
passage “a historic moment,”
noting that he has participate
in so many meetings
about the Safe Staffi ng bills
very frequently in the 11 years
he’s served in the state Senate.
He gave credit to state Senate
Majority Leader Andrea Stewart
Cousins for working to
move the legislation forward to
an anticipated approval.
“Everybody came together
and knew this was something
that needed to be addressed,”
he said. “We’re fi guring out
a mechanism that will have
a positive impact on their patients.”