Buffalo Members Talk Texting for Safe Staffing at Inter-regional Meeting

Nurses (many of them first-time attendees) from Erie County Medical Center, Brooks Memorial Hospital, and Terrace View Long Term Care, gathered for Western NY’s Inter-regional Meeting on September 23, where they heard from guest speaker and NYSNA President Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN, and about a new safe staffing data collection system.
 
Sheridan-Gonzalez gave an overview of the labor climate, and nurses’ accomplishments in her presentation, “NY Nurses: Challenges and Opportunities” which discussed the transformation of NYSNA back into the hands of the direct care nurse. “Three years ago we decided that nurses, not managers and supervisors, should be in charge of our union,” said Sheridan-Gonzalez. One notable change to the structure of NYSNA’s Board of Directors is mandatory representation from each region.  
 
Our fight for safe staffing in every NY facility continues, and a new method for tracking and reporting unsafe staffing levels will soon connect data statewide via text messaging. ‘Safe Staffing Captains’ from each unit will be able to text the unsafe ratio (“3 to 15”, for example) from their phones directly to NYSNA to be recorded and compiled for use when meeting with public officials and other stakeholders. This will be a huge step in presenting hard data to lawmakers during this coming legislative session.