**MEDIA ADVISORY**: SIUH/Northwell Nurses say Unsafe Staffing persists across the Facility

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Contact: Carl Ginsburg | carl.ginsburg@nysna.org | 917-405-1060

NEONATAL ICU AMONG UNITS CITED BY RNs

Staten Island - Nurses at Staten Island University Hospital/Northwell Health will hold a press conference on Tuesday, August 17 at 1:00 p.m. ET, to speak about the crisis in staffing at the hospital. There are 50 vacant nursing positions that hospital managers have refused to fill over the last eight months, putting patients in jeopardy as nursing staff across the hospital try to cope. Among the hardest hit is the Neonatal ICU.

“Our community needs safe staffing at our hospital. I work with the most fragile patients in nursing,” said Jennifer Jara, RN. “A Neonatal ICU nurse should have no more than two babies at one time to deliver the highest level of care to them. However, this is not our truth. We have unfortunately had three to four ICU patients due to lack of nurses.”

The staffing crisis comes just weeks after nurses at the hospital ratified a new contract. A new staffing law has as its first priority to set nurse-to-patient ratios in Intensive Care Units.

WHO: Nurses of the New York State Nurses Association at Staten Island University Hospital/Northwell
WHAT: Nurses to speak and answer questions about the persistence of unsafe nurse staffing conditions at the hospital
WHERE: Staten Island University Hospital/Northwell, 483 Seaview Avenue, Staten Island, NY  10305
WHEN: Tuesday, August 17 at 1:00 PM ET

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The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. For more information, visit nysna.org.