More than 7,000 nurses go on strike in two New York hospitals

More than 7,000 nurses at two New York hospitals went on strike on Monday, saying their concerns about staffing issues had not been addressed by management.

The talks broke off on Sunday evening. At 6 am on Monday, nurses went on strike at Mount Sinai Medical Center on the Upper East Side and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

The nurses, who are members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), say management has failed to fill critical vacancies and competitively price salaries to attract new staff.

Vacancies have forced nurses to care for too many patients at once, strikers say, even for vulnerable patients requiring individual care.

On the Upper East Side, thousands of nurses marched along the picket line, carrying red, waving placards stating their demand for safer staffing relationships.

Bianca Russo, 27, and a nurse at Mount Sinai’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for nearly five years, said nurses often care for three or four sick newborns at a time, although NICU patients must be treated individually.

Nurses had to change, feed and medically care for several children at once, she said.

“We don’t have enough staff members to care for one of the most vulnerable populations in this hospital,” Russo said, adding, “We have a very tight schedule and it’s not just for children.”

Roxanna Garcia, 37, an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse, works at Montefiore Medical Center but joined the Mount Sinai strike to show solidarity.

Holding up a sign, Garcia said critical care staff often care for three or four patients at a time, versus the one or two they should be assigned to.

Garcia said nurses routinely work 12- or 13-hour shifts without full breaks, if any.

“It’s terribly dangerous for the patients, terribly dangerous for the nurse,” she said.

Martin Speiser of the Mount Sinai Emergency Department wore a red hat and lab coat. He spoke of the consequences of the shortage of hospital staff.

“We are exhausted,” he said. “We are stressed and there is no end in sight. For us, there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

Speiser said understaffing has resulted in longer wait times for emergency room patients. In turn, the tense staff have been forced to balance care.

“Drugs are late, labs are late. I can’t talk to doctors as often as necessary. I cannot update patients and families. There’s not enough time,” she said.

Michelle, a 56-year-old psychiatric nurse who declined to reveal her full name, said she often cared for eight patients at a time.

“What kind of quality care can I give you,” she asked, “instead of being one of my five patients?”

Michelle said she and other nurses were unable to go to the bathroom regularly as they supervised patients with medical and mental health needs.

He asked: “Who wants to work like this?”

Hospital executives have criticized nurses for turning down an offer and accused workers of abandoning patients.

In a statement to CNNMount Sinai spokeswoman Lucia Lee said, “NYSNA management walked out of the talks shortly after 1 a.m. ET, refusing to accept the exact same offer of a 19.1 percent salary increase that eight other hospitals have accepted.” , including two other Mount Sinai Health System campuses, and regardless of the governor’s solution to avert a strike.

Citing the 19.1% increase, a statement from the Montefiore Medical Center accused union leaders of walking away “from their patients’ bedside”.

Nurses say the decision to strike came after Mount Sinai and Montefiore failed to take the negotiations seriously.

“Their behavior at the negotiating table mimics their behavior [show] us on the drives every day,” said Matt Allen, 37, a labor and delivery nurse. “They were dismissive. They were disrespectful.

“They accuse us of abandoning patients and of being irresponsible. But the hospital has been abandoning patients for several years when it refuses to give us the right staff.