A union representing more than 42,000 nurses is criticizing a new state health department report that projects mandating minimum staffing levels would cost New York hospitals and nursing homes up to $4.7 billion annually and create demand for nearly 70,000 additional healthcare workers.
The New York State Nurses Association issued a statement Aug. 18 saying the report's methodology is "fatally flawed" and that projections of the economic impact of minimum staffing standards are "wildly overstated." The union also argues the report also does not incorporate key lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report concluded that mandating minimum staffing levels would cost an additional $1.8 billion to $2.4 billion annually for hospitals and between $1.9 billion and $2.3 billion dollars for nursing homes. The report also concluded that mandating minimum nurse staffing levels would create demand for 24,779 more registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in hospitals and 45,158 more nurses and other staff in nursing homes.
"Even under current staffing levels, third-party research study projections of available nursing workforce differ as to whether there will be enough nurse staff to fill available positions in the future," the report states, while also noting the challenge with the analysis due to limited data available on the state's nurse workforce.
The state health department advocates for a comprehensive workforce development approach that helps ensure "flexibility to allow providers to align workforce capacity with patient and resident needs in a dynamic, continually evolving delivery system."
"Unfortunately, as COVID-19 demonstrates, establishing a guaranteed level of staffing care in every hospital across the state is literally a matter of life and death," Pat Kane, RN, executive director of the New York State Nurses Association, said in a news release. "The department of health's shoddy report is a slap in the face to frontline nurses who sacrificed so much during this crisis. Safe staffing could have saved lives during the COVID pandemic. And if the legislature is willing to act on real research, there's still time to improve New York's capacity to respond to a resurgence of the virus."
Legislation related to mandated nurse staffing ratios has been debated in New York state for years, and the health department was tapped to study the issue, according to the Times Union.
While the union has supported mandated ratios based on unit and type of care, hospitals argue such ratios are inflexible to meet hospital needs and would increase costs, potentially resulting in cuts to services, the newspaper reports.
Read the full Times Union article here.
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