NYC NURSES PROTEST THREATENS STRIKE FOR SAFE STAFFING FOR PATIENTS - 27:58
It’s a Matter of Life and Death: Thousands of New York Nurses Take to the Street
In Threat of Major Strike Over Horrendous Working Conditions Which Seriously
Impedes Patient Care
withJudy
Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN , NYSNA President, Montefiore Medical
Center
and
Karine Raymond, RN NYSNA .Second Vice President,
Montefiore Medical Center
The 42,000
strong members of the New York State Nurses Association have been fighting for
safe staffing, to keep hospitals open for care, to stop the Wall Street attack
on their patients, and win healthcare for all. Now, after years of complaints,
understaffing has become the major point of conflict between the nurses’ union
and private hospitals in New York City, as the nurses insist that it seriously
impedes their providing the adequate care that their patients deserve. As such,
13,000 nurses could strike this month if their negotiations fail with a group of
three major hospital systems, union leaders say. Nurses from Montefiore, Mount
Sinai, St. Luke's-Mount Sinai West, and New York-Presbyterian hospitals
authorized a strike last week.
“We’re saying enough is enough,” said
Carl Ginsburg, a spokesperson for the union. On the bargaining table is an
increase in nurse-to-patient ratios in emergency rooms and intensive care units.
Staffing levels have reached dangerously low levels, putting the safety of both
nurses and patients at risk, Ginsburg said. “Sometimes where a nurse should be
caring for five patients, she’s caring for eight or 10,” said Ginsburg. “Make no
mistake – it’s dangerous.” Safe staffing is about saving lives.
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