NYSNA NURSES GATHER FOR CANDLELIGHT VIGIL TO SHED LIGHT ON CHRONIC UNDERSTAFFING AT ELLIS

**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR WEDNESDAY, DEC. 20 AT 7 PM**

Contact: Anna Sterling | press@nysna.org | 646-673-0419
Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489

NYSNA NURSES GATHER FOR CANDLELIGHT VIGIL TO SHED LIGHT ON CHRONIC UNDERSTAFFING AT ELLIS

NYSNA Analysis Reveals Ellis Hospital Units Understaffed 93% of the Time

Nurses and Community Allies Demand Ellis Medicine Deliver a Fair Contract with Safe Staffing to Ensure Quality Patient Care

Schenectady, N.Y.– NYSNA nurses from Ellis Hospital and Bellevue Woman’s Center will gather Wednesday evening for a candlelight vigil to shed light on the issues that patients and frontline caregivers are facing due to understaffing.

Ellis Medicine is grappling with chronic and pervasive understaffing. NYSNA researchers analyzed staffing data across six units at Ellis Hospital from February to November 2023. Shockingly, day and night shifts on these units were found to be understaffed an average of 93% of the time. While nurses are asking for Ellis to deliver on their promise of safe staffing, Ellis Medicine has proposed to have even fewer nurses to care for patients.

Join NYSNA nurses, healthcare professionals, labor and community allies to learn more about challenges faced by healthcare workers who are committed to prioritizing patient safety over profit margins.

WHO: Nurses and healthcare professionals of the New York State Nurses Association, labor, and community allies

WHAT: Candlelight vigil for safe staffing in the community

WHERE: Ellis Hospital 1101 Nott Street Schenectady, New York 12308

WHEN: Wednesday, December 20 at 7:00 p.m.

Understaffing at Ellis Hospital is chronic and widespread. For example, in the C6 unit, a medical-surgical unit where RNs care for many elderly patients, including those with dementia, nurses are supposed to be assigned a maximum of 4 patients, but they routinely care for even more and are sometimes assigned as many as 7 patients. RNs on C6 are often forced to work through their breaks and meal periods and are often unable to take any breaks during the course of their 12-hour shifts. According to employer data that NYSNA analyzed over the nine-month period, there were a total of 481 shifts with safe staffing standards violations.

Other units of the hospital were even more poorly understaffed during this time. The A6 medical-surgical unit was understaffed 96% of the time. In 551 shifts, the nurse-to-patient ratio exceeded a safe staffing standard 528 times.

NYSNA nurses say that Ellis is investing in outrageous salaries for hospital executives, not patient care, local nurses, or the community’s health. Nurses are demanding Ellis Medicine deliver on a fair contract that honors the work of its frontline workers and provides patients with the quality of care they deserve.

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said: “Our dedicated nurses, the heart of patient care, are grappling with excessive patient loads and inadequate staffing levels. We demand immediate action from the hospital administration to prioritize safe staffing, the well-being of our healthcare professionals, and quality care for this community."

NYSNA Central Regional Director Catherine Dawson, RN, CNOR, MSN, who works in the Operating Room at Ellis: “As a nurse with over 30 years of experience, I've dedicated my career to patient care, and it's disheartening to witness the blatant disregard for safe staffing and the well-being of healthcare professionals at Ellis Medicine. The chronic understaffing affects patient care on a daily basis, leaving nurses overworked and patients underserved. We're fighting not just for a fair contract but for the respect and support that our dedicated healthcare team deserves."

Christine Walthers, RN, at Bellevue Woman’s Center, said: "We’re in dire need of a fair contract that speaks to the core needs of nurses. Chronic understaffing creates a perpetual cycle of burnt-out nurses and compromises patient care. Our fight isn't just about negotiating for ourselves; it's a collective effort to secure the best care for the patients we serve daily."

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The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country's largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.