In January, over 7000 nurses working at two private New York City hospital systems went on strike. The nurse strike impacted three hospitals, providing about half the beds in the Bronx and Mount Sinai on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The primary reason for the NYC nurse’s strike was hospital understaffing. After three days of protest, it appears the New York City nurse strike has come to an end.
According to a recent report, the New York State Nurses Association union may have reached deals with Mount Sinai Health System and Montefiore Health System. These two hospital systems operate the impacted Bronx and Manhattan hospitals. The agreements are tentative, but they have ended the nurse strike putting thousands of essential nurses back to work providing care for NYC hospital patients.
Hospital Understaffing and the NYC Nurse Strike
The strike happened due to the nurses having to work under severe staffing shortages. As a result, those on duty were being overworked and burned out to the point of interfering with their ability to provide proper patient care. Under the proposed agreement, the nurses must have enforceable and safe staffing ratios for all hospital inpatient units at Mount Sinai and Montefiore. Montefiore reportedly “agreed to financial penalties for failing to comply with agreed-upon staffing levels in all units.” The system is also agreeing to add “170 new nursing positions, a 19% increase in pay over the three-year life of the contract, lifetime health coverage for eligible retirees and adding “significantly more nurses” in the E.R.” The tentative agreement is structured to provide nurses with the staffing they need to provide quality care for their patients.
Enforceable Staffing Ratios for Patient Care
The nurses’ union commented on the nurse strike agreement stating that “Through our unity and by putting it all on the line, we won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai where nurses went on strike for patient care” and that “Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our victory means safer care for our patients and more sustainable jobs for our profession.”
Mount Sinai called the nurse strike agreement “fair and responsible.” Our proposed agreement is similar to those between NYSNA and eight other New York City hospitals,” Mount Sinai said in a statement. “It is fair and responsible, and it puts patients first.”
Nurse Understaffing and Medical Malpractice
As the recent nurse strike demonstrates, nurses and other critical medical care professionals cannot provide safe care when working long hours without adequate staffing. These conditions not only harm NYC nurses, but they can also lead to medical malpractice. When patients undergo treatment and surgical care in an understaffed setting, there are more opportunities for medical negligence.
A patient receiving treatment at a facility with inadequate staffing could suffer medical malpractice injuries such as:
- Surgical errors
- Misdiagnosis
- Birth Injuries
- Missed Cancer Diagnosis
- Prescription Drug Errors
- Delayed Diagnosis
If you or a loved one have been harmed while under the care of a medical professional, it may be due to understaffing or other medical care deficiencies. Under these circumstances, it’s important to have the advocacy of a medical malpractice attorney to help you recover damages for your injuries.
Contact an Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney
At Bonina & Bonina, P.C., we are dedicated New York medical malpractice lawyers who can help you hold those responsible for your medical malpractice injuries responsible. We have successfully fought on behalf of many clients in cases due to nurse and medical provider understaffing. If you or a loved one has been injured due to inadequate care or staffing and want the facts of that medical care investigated, you should contact the Med Law team at 1-888-MEDLAW1 or call us online to schedule your free consultation. Se Habla Espaňol. Home and hospital visits are available.