NYSNA Members Advocate for a Healthier New York
On Tuesday, March 11, over 500 NYSNA nurses and healthcare professionals traveled from across New York state for our annual Lobby Day in Albany. With the legislative session in full swing and in light of recent attacks on our healthcare system by the federal government, NYSNA members turned out in droves to demand that our state legislators pass a budget that invests in safe, quality healthcare for all New Yorkers. In addition to budget advocacy, NYSNA members also sounded the alarm on the staffing crisis that puts patient care at risk, and they called on elected officials to push the Department of Health (DOH) to enforce New York’s safe staffing laws.
Listening to Nurses’ Voices
Each spring, NYSNA nurses travel to Albany to speak with lawmakers and share their experiences as frontline nurses in healthcare facilities across the state. This year, nurses met with more than 100 lawmakers to raise concerns about the state of healthcare in New York. With healthcare currently under attack on the national level, chief among nurses’ concerns was the impact these attacks might have on patient safety. Nurses demanded a budget that would prioritize investing in care for ALL; protecting hospital funding; defending Medicaid; and expanding access to much needed healthcare services, including maternal and mental healthcare.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “We know what’s happening in Washington, D.C. right now puts patient safety at risk. We know devastating cuts to Medicaid; defunding of our public health system; and discrimination against patients based on insurance status, immigration status, gender, gender identity or any other status is wrong and harms US ALL! Nurses, healthcare workers and our healthcare champions are here today to say, ‘Not in New York!’”
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, speaks at a press conference demanding that lawmakers pass a budget that invests in safe, quality care for all New Yorkers.
In meetings with legislators, nurses presented a clear and united front, connecting their lived experience to NYSNA’s budget and legislative priorities for the year, including:
- Safe staffing in every hospital and nursing home.
- Investment in nurse recruitment and retention programs.
- Defending quality patient care and professional standards of nursing practice.
- Workplace violence prevention.
- Fair funding to save our public and safety-net hospitals.
- Defending Medicaid funding for the millions who rely on it.
- Expanding access to healthcare services, including maternal and mental healthcare.
- Advocating for long-term solutions like the NY Health Act.
Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest, RN, speaks at the press conference, calling on the Department of Health to enforce New York’s safe staffing law.
In the Halls of the Capitol
In addition to meeting with legislators, NYSNA nurses also held a press conference with healthcare workers, labor allies and elected officials, including New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Senator Gustavo Rivera, Senator Jessica Ramos, Senator Robert Jackson, Assembly Member Harry Bronson, Assembly Member Karines Reyes, Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forest and 1199SEIU.
At the press conference, NYSNA leaders named the lack of enforcement for New York’s safe staffing law, the closure of vital maternal health and mental health services, hospital funding cuts and infringements upon our nursing standards of practice as threats to the profession and patient care. NYSNA Albany Medical Center leader Jennifer Bejo, RN, highlighted a recently released DOH staffing deficiency report, which revealed more than 500 violations of the staffing law as well as the hospital’s continued failure to produce a meaningful solution to the staffing crisis.
“Our local community and elected allies have shown incredible support and shown that they will not be silent as Albany Med puts patient care at risk,” Bejo said. “However, we need more. We need the DOH to enforce the law and hold bad actors accountable. We need safe staffing now!”
NYSNA Director at Large and Nathan Littauer nurse Marion Enright, RN, reminded the crowd about how hospital funding cuts would affect patients and working conditions. She said: “My hospital serves a large rural area of the state. Many of our patients use Medicare and Medicaid to access care. For upstate critical access hospitals, over 55% of all hospital revenues come from Medicare and Medicaid. We are very concerned about what federal Medicaid cuts will mean for our patients and for our fights for fair contracts with safe staffing.”
Taking Patient Advocacy to the Next Level
Frontline nurses know that patient advocacy is a critical part of their profession that extends beyond the bedside. Advocacy at the state level helps nurses ensure that patients across New York state — not just the ones they see coming through their own hospitals — get the best care possible. Speaking on the need for increased staffing enforcement, Russel Wiser, RN, an emergency department nurse at Westchester Medical Center’s HealthAlliance Hospital, shared, “Getting the law was the first step, but enforcement is the rest of the battle. We need more enforcement.”
With the April budget deadline looming, NYSNA nurses will continue to advocate for safe patient care and a budget that invests in all New Yorkers’ health. Members will continue to monitor budget proposals, and our leadership is ready to step in when legislators propose policies that don’t have patients’ or nurses’ best interests at heart. Our advocacy is already starting to make a difference. On Lobby Day, we learned that the State Senate and Assembly rejected the Interstate Nurse Licensure Compact, a proposal that would have eroded patient care standards and would have not led to safe staffing. They also included revenue raisers in the budget to make New Yorker’s tax structure more equitable and to protect us from the cuts coming from the federal government.
Nurses will continue to call for increased enforcement of New York’s safe staffing law. And on the federal level, NYSNA will continue to push back against policies that threaten our patients, communities and profession. Stay tuned for more updates on this front as NYSNA members take their advocacy to Washington, D.C., for National Nurses United Lobby Day April 28-30.
Peconic Bay Medical Center nurses Kim Wise, RN (left) and Joanna Clasen, RN
The experience was wonderful. The legislators have been really warm and welcoming to us and accepting of our views and our concerns, so I think we’ll have some success as we have in the past with our visits up here. It’s worth it to come to Albany because we owe it to our patients and our patients’ families and communities.”
– Kim Wise, RN
NYSNA Executive Director Pat Kane, RN, CNOR(E) and members of the board of directors meet with Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to discuss NYSNA’s budget and policy priorities for the 2025 legislative session.