Healthcare Advocates from across New York State Have a Message for Legislators: Now is the Time to Pass Safe Staffing for Nurses and Caregivers

The N.Y. Campaign for Patient Safety, a coalition of nurses, caregivers and healthcare advocates from around New York, is calling on state Senators and Assembly Members to support and pass minimum safe staffing ratio legislation in hospitals and nursing homes. The legislation would guarantee that every hospital patient and nursing home resident have appropriate access to the care of nurses and caregivers when they need it across the state.

Safe staffing levels are essential to providing quality patient care. New York patients are currently at risk because healthcare administrators are forcing nurses and caregivers to take on an unsafe level of patients. New York needs a safe staffing law to help ensure that our patients always get the quality care they need.

Studies show safe staffing reduces occurrences of avoidable patient deaths, decreases incidents of hospital-acquired infections, shortens hospital stays, reduces incidents of workplace violence, and boosts overall nurse retention—all of which add up to significant savings for hospitals. To put it plainly, safe staffing plans would not increase costs for hospitals or nursing facilities. In fact, just the opposite: it would help contain costs and provide better care for all New Yorkers. Read more about Safe Staffing here.