Albany Med Disciplines NICU Nurse Who Raised Concerns About Having Enough Staff To Safely Care For Sick Babies

For immediate release: Thursday, November 7, 2024

Contact: 
Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169  
Eliza Bates | press@nysna.org | 646-285-8491 

ALBANY MED DISCIPLINES NICU NURSE WHO RAISED CONCERNS ABOUT HAVING ENOUGH STAFF TO SAFELY CARE FOR SICK BABIES

The union representing Albany Med nurses, the New York State Nurses Association, has now filed more than 10 Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, including for management retaliation against nurses who have spoken out about unsafe staffing

Albany, N.Y. - Albany Medical Center recently initiated disciplinary proceedings against Jennifer Kiehle, RN, a NYSNA member and NICU nurse who has worked at the hospital for over 13 years, just days after she questioned management on whether a new staffing schedule provided enough nurses to safely care for NICU babies. Jennifer Kiehle, RN was previously disciplined shortly after speaking at a press conference on staffing conditions in the hospital. And she’s not the only Albany Med nurse who has faced retaliation for speaking out for patient safety.  

The New York State Nurses Association has now filed more than 10 unfair labor practice charges against Albany Med with the National Labor Relations Board, including for management retaliation against nurses who have spoken out about patient care issues and for management’s refusal to allow union representation in the disciplinary proceedings that followed.  

NICU nurse and NYSNA member Jennifer Kiehle, RN, said, “It seems like we’re allowed to talk about anything at work except for our union and the unsafe staffing conditions that impact care for our NICU babies. Now, I get a knot in my stomach every time I hear from my manager because I feel like I have a target on my back for speaking out. Albany Med would rather punish nurses for speaking out than work with us to make sure our smallest, most vulnerable patients get the care they need.”

Jennifer Kiehle, RN has been admonished by management at least a half a dozen times and officially disciplined twice for talking to coworkers about union issues. She was told by human resources that she could not talk about her union at work. Meanwhile, Albany Med CEO Dennis McKenna has bombarded the hospital with his own message about union contract negotiations, playing a video on loop 24 hours a day for an entire week, including in the main patient entrance of the hospital, the cafeteria, and in hallways, telling nurses to accept management’s contract proposal.

Instead of collaborating with frontline nurses on real staffing solutions that prioritize safe patient care, Albany Med management, under the leadership of CEO Dennis McKenna, has gone out of its way to hide the staffing crisis from the public and has retaliated against nurses for speaking out on behalf of their patients.  

Tonia Bazel, RN, a NYSNA member on the infectious disease unit at Albany Med, was disciplined twice for speaking to her coworkers about safe staffing and union negotiations. Tonia Bazel is a member of the hospital’s clinical staffing committee, and management took disciplinary action against her after she spoke out at several public press conferences about unsafe staffing.  

“Albany Med regularly assigns nurses more patients than we can safely care for at once,” said Tonia Bazel, RN. “When we speak out about staffing conditions, it’s because we’re trying to protect care for our patients. Instead of working collaboratively with frontline nurses, Albany Med is retaliating against us for organizing and speaking to the public about unsafe staffing.”

Last week, NYSNA filed an administrative charge and asked the National Labor Relations Board to seek an injunction to stop management from replacing vocal nurse advocates on the clinical staffing committee through a boss-run election, in violation of the New York State staffing law and federal labor law.  

In October, Albany Med sent an email to staff announcing that hospital management plans to run an election to replace the current clinical staffing committee members with an election that will take place this week, unless blocked through injunctive relief. Management announced the sham election after frontline nurses on the staffing committee spoke out about unsafe staffing and the hospital’s failure to share the New York State Department of Health’s deficiency report with the committee. The election process, from what little management has shared, will be unilaterally controlled by the boss with zero transparency.  

Last month, at the exact same time that nurses were in a staffing committee meeting, CEO Dennis McKenna held a press conference where he falsely told the press that the staffing committee was given access to the full Department of Health report. McKenna also shared misleading numbers trying to minimize the shocking and unprecedented 480 staffing violations he admitted that the report contained. 480 staffing violations would be the largest publicly known number of violations ever found by a DOH investigation since the safe staffing law went into effect.

Nurses have filed complaints that show the unsafe staffing levels at the hospital have continued even after the hospital was investigated by the New York State Department of Health.

Albany Med was recently found to have some of the longest ER visits in the country. Understaffing exacerbates the long wait times in the emergency department. Nurses have witnessed patients waiting in hallways and in the ambulance bay for care. The crisis at Albany Med affects communities well beyond the Capital Region. As the only Level 1 Trauma Center in the region, the hospital receives patients from across upstate New York and into Vermont and Massachusetts. Very sick patients travel far distances and arrive at an emergency room that nurses and EMTs say often does not have sufficient beds or staff to care for them.  

Nurses at Albany Medical Center have been in negotiations since April and have seen little movement from management on key issues. NYSNA nurses are urging Albany Med administrators to settle a fair union contract with a comprehensive plan to recruit, retain, and respect nurses in order to solve the nurse staffing crisis at the hospital and ensure quality care for the community.  

Over the last year, NYSNA nurses at Albany Medical Center have held an informational picket and hosted community forums, delivered petitions to hospital leadership, and held speak-outs for safe staffing. Nurses recently launched an ad campaign across the capital region to draw attention to the staffing crisis at Albany Med. Visit albanymedqualitycare.org to find out more.

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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.