FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 1, 2021
Contact: Carl Ginsburg | carl.ginsburg@nysna.org | 917-405-1060

THE BILL HEADS TO THE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE NEXT

This comes on the heels of more than 26,000 Complaints of Understaffing signed by nearly 98,000 nurses during the last two years

New York – The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) announced today that the New York State Assembly Codes Committee unanimously passed the Safe Staffing For Quality Care Act. The bill now heads to the Ways and Means Committee.

The bill ensures that enough nurses are available in nursing homes and hospitals to give patients the care they need and deserve.

The COVID pandemic underscores that safe staffing saves lives in hospitals and nursing homes. A recent report by Attorney General Letitia James is the latest evidence that connects safe staffing and positive patient outcomes. The central finding and core recommendation of the AG’s report are that poor staffing was a major factor in the high death toll in nursing homes, and that New York must enact enforceable, minimum staffing standards, or hours of care per resident.

More than 26,000 complaints were filed by nurses to management about understaffing in hospitals and nursing homes during 2019 and 2020. A total of 97,715 nurse signatures appear on those complaints because multiple signatures are allowed on each complaint. That is the equivalent of almost 35.9 complaints per day, every day for 730 days.

This data includes complaints from nurse members in the NYC H+H public facilities, the backbone of care in the City. During 2019-2020 there were a total of 8,812 complaints about staffing, with 32,888 nurses in the NYC public system signing.

A new peer-reviewed study of nurse staffing in New York over two years found that NY hospitals overall are 33% short of safe RN staffing levels. This alarming level of RN short-staffing translates into thousands of patient deaths that could have been avoided, according to the study co-authored by University of Pennsylvania Prof. Linda Aiken, RN, PhD.  Aiken estimates that safe staffing would save tens of millions of dollars, as well-attended patients would be discharged earlier.

ALBANY: DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON NEW YORK PATIENTS OR NEW YORK NURSES!

For more information, campaignforpatientsafety.org.

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The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. For more information, please visit nysna.org.