More than 7,000 nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx had been on strike since Monday, insisting that employers hire more staff and agree to pay penalties to nurses who work under-resourced shifts.
The New York State Nurses Association, which represents more than 42,000 members, called it “a historic victory for New York City nurses and for nurses across the country.” “Through our unity and by putting it all on the line, we won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai where nurses went on strike for patient care,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans
. “Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our victory means safer care for our patients and more sustainable jobs for our profession.”The work stoppage had wide-ranging effects across New York’s health system, which is grappling with the “tripledemic” of covid, RSV and the seasonal flu. Northeast health facilities are also bracing for a potential coronavirus case spike resulting from the new XBB.1.5 variant.
During the strike, the New York Fire Department diverted ambulances from emergency rooms where nurses had walked out. Staffers from at least one outpatient clinic were being redirected to work at hospitals. And attending physicians at Montefiore facilities were performing duties typically performed by nursing assistants — jobs such as feeding and cleaning patients and changing beds.“We are not trained to do these tasks,” one Montefiore physician told The Washington Post on Tuesday.
Great news... when the variant 'the Kraken' has been released.