NEW YORK NURSE: January-February 2011
This winter started off snowy and has stayed that way. Following the post-Christmas blizzard, NYSNA communications Associate Director Mark Genovese wrote about how RNs coped with the snow. Here’s an excerpt of that web exclusive:
A holiday blizzard brought the entire Northeast to a halt, but it didn’t stop NYSNA members from caring for their patients.
The storm made travel nearly impossible, dropping 20 inches of snow on Dec. 26 and 27 on the New York metropolitan area and more than a foot in Upstate New York and Southern New Jersey. Businesses were closed, vehicles were banned from the highways, and airline, train, and bus passengers were stranded. But thousands of hard-working NYSNA members worked extra shifts or took extraordinary measures to get to their posts.
“Some HHC RNs worked 30 hours in the emergency room, and in the pediatric and adult ICUs,” said Elizabeth Atkinson, NYSNA release time representative for Kings County Hospital Center. “Buses in Brooklyn weren’t running. Some nurses told me they walked five hours to get here. Others walked for hours, gave up, and went home.”
A handful of members shared their stories on NYSNA’s Facebook page. “Thankfully, my Jeep handles well in the snow and I got in Monday,” shared Susan Mantovani from St. Catherine of Siena in Smithtown.
Read the rest of the story here