NY Nurse: October 2021

I have always valued health care professionals. But it was the final moments of my mother’s life in early April 2021 that underscored for me that importance of what you do.

As my mother lay transitioning, it was the health care workers at St. Ann’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who seamlessly cared for her as well as her children. I still marvel at the compassion and patience they showed. Without exaggeration, I am not sure how my siblings and I would have made it through that terrible period without their presence and witness to our suffering.

In this edition of New York Nurse, we asked four members whose combined work at Rikers Correctional Center totals 75 years to share their perspective and experience. You’ll hear from Constance Clark, Gene Thomas, Paulette McGee and Nadyne Pressley, all registered nurses at the facility. Their dedication to quality care is exceptional, as they have remained on the job in spite of understaffing, persistent violence and other hardships. Each says, however, that conditions at the city jail are the worst they have ever seen. New York Nurse asked them to describe those conditions.

When NYSNA member Alicia Butler, RN, arrived for work at Rikers Island on August 2, 2020, she wasn’t expecting to become a patient herself that day, but that is exactly what happened.

I know this communication reaches you at a precarious time. Nationally, there are rising concerns about the delta variant and fear that the return to normalcy we anticipated this summer is a long way off. Across the country, there’s anxiety over the safety of children and young adults returning to school. Locally, there’s intense focus on the impact of the vaccine mandate on nurses, patients, and health care systems already stressed with short staffing.

Impact Bargaining Followed Vaccine Mandates

After former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former Dr. Howard Zucker, New York State Health Department commissioner, announced statewide vaccine mandates, NYSNA issued demands to bargain and requests for additional information. We also pursued a range of options to protect patients and caregivers. As we move through this next phase, we want to outline the steps we have and are taking to protect your interests and keep patients safe.