News Briefs: March 2015
NYSNA testifies on NYC HHC’s budget
Anne Bové, RN and President, NYSNA’s HHC/Mayorals Executive Council, addressed NY City Council’s Health Committee on March 23, and delivered NYSNA’s full support of the Access Health NYC initiative for its “potential to provide healthcare access information to underserved communities in a culturally and linguistically competent way.”
Bové also raised NYSNA’s objections to HHC’s ongoing attempts to privatize chronic dialysis services. She questioned HHC’s figures on the economic benefits that such a move would yield, cited HHC’s repeated failures to clear CON approval, and emphasized the costs that would be incurred in terms of care quality and patient safety. Bové concluded her testimony with an appeal to the committee to hold a hearing “so that patients, their families and community members can have a real forum on this life and death issue.”
Long-time NYSNA RN Honored
Mary Bell-Downes, RN, holding a proclamation from the New York State Assembly recognizing her extraordinary service at New York City HHC‘s Kings County Hospital Center. She is joined by family members and NYSNA Executive Director Jill Furillo, RN, and Anne Bové, RN, President, NYSNA’s HHC/Mayorals Executive Council.
NYSNA welcomes new title at Southside Hospital
NYSNA RNs at Long Island’s Southside Hospital, a member of the North Shore-LIJ health system, welcomed the hospital’s RN PRI Assessors to their ranks following card count recognition negotiated with North Shore-LIJ’s management by Southside’s NYSNA committee.
NYSNA member selected to present at AACN
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses is recognizing Robin Krinsky, MSN, RN-BC, CCRN, with a 2015 AACN Research Abstract Award for her research on “Fatigue in Critical Care Nurses.” Krinsky, a NYSNA member at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, will present her work at the AACN’s National Teaching Institute scheduled for May 18-21 in San Diego.
OSHA aims to publicize hospital staff injuries
The latest OSHA data on workplace injuries shows that hospitals reported 6.8 work-related injuries for every 100 employees in 2011 — a rate nearly double the national private sector industry average. Of the 58,000 injuries that required hospital employees to take time away from work, nearly half were caused by lifting, bending or reaching — actions most often associated with moving or lifting patients. Musculoskeletal injuries among nursing staff have increased along with the number of overweight Americans.
Under a newly proposed rule, employers would electronically submit injury records to OSHA, who would make the data public through an online, searchable database. The public could query by workplace, job title, and/or the circumstances related to each incident. When the database will become available is still an unknown. Opponents, led by the American Health Care Association representing long-term-care and post-acute-care providers, are using patient privacy as an excuse to avoid compliance.
2015 Secor Scholarship
The deadline for applying for a 2015 Secor Scholarship is June 1. The Fund, established in 2007 by a bequest from long-time NYSNA member Jane Secor, PhD, RN, awards two $5,000 scholarships each year to further nursing education: one to a NYSNA member and one to a family member of a NYSNA member. For information and/or an application, contact Deb Grebert at NYSNA’s Albany office, 518.782.9400, ext. 240.