NEW YORK NURSE: November 2009
During the Friday session, President Linda O’Brien presented the Presidential Award to State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who has been a leading advocate for both nurses and patients while serving for nearly three decades in the State Legislature.
Gottfried, who chairs the Assembly Health Committee, sponsored the legislation to ban mandatory overtime for nurses. He also championed legislation that requires hospitals to disclose their staffing ratios, which was signed into law in September.
“Assemblyman Gottfried is a tireless advocate for patient rights and a true friend of the nursing profession,” O’Brien said.
In accepting the award, Gottfried noted that NYSNA had been the first organization to talk to him about the need for a single-payer healthcare system. “I hope that some good things will happen at the national level, although I think they would do more good if they followed your advice and mine,” he said.