File photo by Todd Maisel
As National Nurses Week approaches, New York
seeks ‘Safe Staffi ng’ for the state’s caregivers
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MAY 7-MAY 13, 2021 21
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 sacrifice
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 staffing 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 May 4, New York lawmakers
passed two bills aimed
at creating “Safe Staffing”
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 staffing.
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 Staffing
bills. “You could imagine
we were at a deficit 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 staffing, 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 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
staffing 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 Staffing legislation
will mandate that hospitals
adopt staffing 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 staffing 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
staffing plans for each hospital
on the DOH website.
The legislation also includes
a mandate that the DOH
create new minimal staffing
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
Staffing 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 Staffing 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 figuring out
a mechanism that will have
a positive impact on their patients.”
Reach reporter Robert Pozarycki
by e-mail at rpozarycki@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260-4549.
NATIONAL NURSES WEEK
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