More Than A Thousand New York State Nurses To Circle The Capital In Albany Calling On Lawmakers To Protect Patients By Passing The Safe Staffing For Quality Care Act

ALBANY, N.Y., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than a thousand New York State nurses from across the state will circle the Capital on Wednesday, April 13 to call on lawmakers to protect patients by passing the Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act.

The Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act is bi-partisan legislation to establish safe and consistent standards for nursing care in New York State.

This action comes on the heels of strong support for the law with 91 Assembly sponsors, 27 Senate sponsors along with a coalition of unions and consumer groups from around the state representing hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.

The coalition calling for action includes: 

• New York State AFL-CIO
• New York State Nurses Association
• Communication Workers of America, District 1
• Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare
• Working Families Party
• Public Employees Federation
• Citizen Action of New York
• Make the Road NY
• New York Statewide Senior Action Council
• New York State Alliance for Retired Americans
• New York Communities for Change
• Coalition for Economic Justice
• Metro New York Healthcare for All

The legislation will save lives by ensuring that there are an adequate number of nurses at the bedside of patients inside New York hospitals. Among other things, this legislation will:

• Establish safe nurse to patient ratios for nurses in units at all New York hospitals.
• Require hospitals to staff units using nurses that are trained for care in that unit. For example, nurses in the ER should be trained in ER care.
• Require hospitals to be more transparent about their staffing levels.
• Set a maximum number of patients a nurse is responsible for at any given time. 

WHAT: Nurses discuss rally with lawmakers at lunch

WHO: Registered nurses, supporters, and lawmakers  

WHEN:  Wednesday, April 13   12:30pm — 1:30pm 

WHERE: Empire State Plaza Convention Hall, Albany NY 

WHAT: More than a thousand nurses and Safe Staffing supporters to circle the Capital calling for the passage of Safe Staffing Law  

WHO: Registered nurses, patient advocates, labor allies and supporters.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 13   1:45pm — 3:30pm 

WHERE: West Capital Park, Albany NY

**EXCELLENT PHOTO, AUDIO AND VIDEO OPPORTUNITIES**

The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) represents more than 37,000 members in New York State. We are New York's largest union and professional association for registered nurses. For more information, please visit our website at www.nysna.org.

SOURCE New York State Nurses Association

Related Links

http://www.nysna.org