The New York State Nurses Association released a report on nurse staffing in hospitals in the state following the passage of a safe staffing law in 2021.
Eight things to know:
1. The law created a 1-to-2 nurse-to-patient ratio for critical care patients and established an independent advisory commission tasked with releasing a report on the law's effects in October, according to the union report.
2. Because the commission has not released a report yet due to a lack of data, the New York State Nurses Association said it surveyed staff at more than 60 facilities. Union members working in intensive care units collected staffing reports from 532 shifts across 32 critical care units in 20 hospitals, according to the report.
3. Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, hospitals in the report failed to meet the 1-to-2 nurse-to-patient ratio for ICU and critical care patients more than half of the time.
4. As of November, 33% of hospitals had publicly posted staffing plans in all units, while 62% had posted plans in some units.
5. About 55% of hospitals publicly posted actual staffing levels on all units.
6. The law, which was passed in 2021, requires hospitals to establish clinical staffing committees. The law was later updated, mandating a "minimum of one registered professional nurse assigned to care for every two patients that an attending practitioner determines to require intensive or critical care."
7. The law took effect Jan. 1, 2022, with staffing committees established. Staffing plans became enforceable Jan. 1, 2023, according to the report.
8. Nurses at New York City-based NewYork-Presbyterian have addressed issues on several units by enforcing their union contract, according to the report. A spokesperson from the health system shared the following statement with Becker's on Dec. 23:
"Safe staffing is a shared priority and an essential aspect of patient care," the spokesperson said. "In an incredibly competitive job marketplace, we work hard every day to recruit the best nurses to our teams and retain nurses who want to grow their careers at our hospitals. Those efforts are reflected in strong hiring and retention rates. We will remain focused on providing our care teams with the support they need to deliver the very best care to our patients."
Other hospitals mentioned in the report were not immediately available for comment. This story will be updated if more information becomes available.