Thousands of striking New York City nurses have reached tentative agreements with hospitals and will return to work after a three-day walkout over inadequate nurse-to-patient ratios that they said had led to overstretched staff and undercut patient safety.
Negotiations ran into the late hours on Jan. 11 before tentative deals were struck with Mount Sinai Health System and Montefiore Health System, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said in a statement.
The nurses association said both hospitals agreed to “enforceable safe staffing ratios” and, as a consequence, “there will always be enough nurses at the bedside to provide safe patient care, not just on paper.”
Widespread staffing shortages led to overburdened employees and burnout, negatively affecting the quality and safety of patient care, the nurses claimed.
“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,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said in a statement.
The striking nurses were back on the job on Jan. 12, with both hospitals having agreed to immediate return-to-work agreements.
“Our proposed agreement is similar to those between NYSNA and eight other New York City hospitals,” Mount Sinai said in a statement. “It is fair and responsible, and it puts patients first.”
Montefiore Medical Center said it had sought to find a quick resolution to the issues raised by the striking nurses.
“Our bargaining team has been working around the clock with NYSNA’s leadership to come to an agreement. From the outset, we came to the table committed to bargaining in good faith and addressing the issues that were priorities for our nursing staff,” Montefiore said in a statement.
“We know this strike impacted everyone—not just our nurses—and we were committed to coming to a resolution as soon as possible to minimize disruption to patient care.”
Montefiore said all surgeries and procedures and outpatient appointments will proceed according to schedule.
The new staffing ratios take effect immediately at Mount Sinai, where nurses said they had won “wall-to-wall safe staffing ratios for all inpatient units.”
At Montefiore, nurses won new staffing ratios in the Emergency Department and enforcement of safe staffing levels in all units by way of financial penalties for noncompliance.
More than 7,000 nurses walked off the job on Jan. 9 after negotiations with the two hospitals fell through.
Both hospitals said that during the strike, patient care was seriously affected as the medical centers scrambled to cope with the walkout by such measures as postponing nonemergency surgeries.
