13,000 nurses employed by the Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and New York Presbyterian hospital systems and represented by the New York State Nurses Association, have been working hard to raise awareness about conditions they and their patients face by understaffing. There are not enough nurses to care for the volume of patients, and the nurses themselves are dangerously overworked during long shifts.
The Nurses Association has been pushing for the passage of the Safe Staffing for Quality Act, which would set staffing requirements in direct care facilities and nursing homes. Hospital administrators and lobbyists–more concerned about profit than care–have fought against the passage of the bill in New York, saying it would increase operating expenses.
Tre Kwon, a nurse at Mount Sinai, said, “It takes a lot of courage to point a finger at the hospital directors about the needs of patients. It really showed the boss how fired up we are and how passionate and fearless nurses are.”