For Immediate Release
Contact: Bernadette Ellorin, 347.947.0671
Photo opportunity: Nurses protest outside of Roosevelt Hospital Wednesday morning
NEW YORK, November 13, 2012 - At St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, administrators are moving psychiatric and pediatric nurses to adult medical/surgical floors – and giving them only one day’s training, instead of the required three months.
Nurses say patients are at risk – and they will take their case to the public on Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 7:00 AM, outside Roosevelt Hospital at 1000 Tenth Avenue in Manhattan.
Management made the move during the hurricane. But now that the immediate crisis is over, management is still refusing to give nurses the proper training.
When Bellevue and NYU hospitals evacuated, St. Luke’s Roosevelt nurses took on many of their patients. With only one hospital operating below 57th St. in Manhattan, the Roosevelt Hospital Emergency Room is still slammed with patients.
“You can’t go from being a psychiatric nurse to a med/surg nurse in just one day,” said Joe Gonzalez, an RN at St. Luke’s Hospital. “Administrators are taking short cuts and putting patients at risk.”
Nurses went above and beyond during the storm to care for their patients. “During the storm, I stayed at the hospital for five days to care for my patients,” said Linda Brady, RN, a nurse at Roosevelt.
They say the solution to the problem is to bring in more staff, with proper training. “I’m always going to stand up for my patients – including standing up to my own hospital when they do the wrong thing,” said Betty Ann Lynch, RN.
The New York State Nurses Association is the voice for nursing in the Empire State. With more than 37,000 members, it is New York’s largest professional association and union for registered nurses. The association represents registered nurses, and some all-professional bargaining units, in New York and New Jersey. It supports nurses and nursing practice through education, research, legislative advocacy, and collective bargaining.
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