NYSNA President Talks Nurse Shortages and Pandemic Realities
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) is a 42,000-strong union – the state’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. During the time of COVID-19, the pandemic created a “wake-up call for all society and a self-examination of how we function as a community,” according to NYSNA President Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez. LaborPress learned more about the crisis’ affect on nurses and what she thinks can be done to help.
LP: In June you said we were “already dealing with draconian health care budget cuts from city, state, and federal governments.” What is happening now?
JS-G: [Because of COVID] people saw the horrors of a society that doesn’t look out for people when a crisis hits. In health care we see the difference in systems: those that generate profits, and those that can’t because of the type of insurance and wealth possessed by the populations they serve. Inequities in these systems – racial and economic—are dramatic. We work in different facilities and we see the difference – sometimes even in the same facility. We’ve been shouting this from the rooftops for a while but COVID brought this to the front. The issues of ending cuts to essential services and, instead, taxing the ultra-rich, have emerged as a social necessity – not just a pipe dream. For communities to receive quality of life services, we’ve got to have revenues. Trickle-down economics will not fix it—that never worked. There are a sizeable number of proposals to gain revenue in the NYS Legislature. There are federal changes proposed as well.
LP: What kind of shortages have staff experienced?
JS-G: If you look at the data, there really aren’t shortages...yet. The way in which people are deployed, the working conditions and the inability to deliver appropriate care are causing an exodus from the profession. In Testimony at New York Joint Legislative Budget Hearing, February 25, Linda H Aiken, PhD, RN, FAAN University of Pennsylvania, said, “Evidence suggests that New York State has a sufficient nurse supply to meet the ratios proposed in the legislation. California which successfully implemented similar legislation has substantially fewer nurses (11.3 nurses per 1000 population) than New York State (18.7 per 1000 population).
The way in which people are deployed, the working conditions and the inability to deliver appropriate care are causing an exodus from the profession. Hospitals are actually not filling these vacancies created by early retirement and other types of attrition. It’s very important to debunk the shortage myth. The wealthier hospitals have much better staffing.
The study also says there is The Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act (S.1032/ A.2954) that calls for nurses to care for no more than 4 patients each on adult medical and surgical units. Its findings show that on average, hospital nurse staffing is significantly worse than the proposed standard. Across all hospitals in the state, nurses care for on average 6.3 patients each. Nurse staffing was worst in New York City where nurses cared for an average of 6.9 patients each—and up to 10 or 11 in Safety Net hospitals!
LP: Are there any bright spots on the horizon?
JS-G: Nursing is still a beautiful profession. But not at the expense of our own lives and our sanity. Our patients deserve the best we have to offer—such an obvious and simple thing only requires the will to make it happen.