Albany Med Nurses March On The Boss To Demand Safe Staffing For Their Patients

On Wednesday afternoon, July 10, 2024, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses from Harlem to the Hudson marched at the Albany Medical Center.

The nurses marched to Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) Kevin Zeng’s office to deliver a petition calling on the hospital to settle a fair union contract with safe staffing and a real plan to recruit and retain nurses for safe patient care. Zeng refused to accept the petition and called security instead of talking to the delegation of nurses.

Kathy Whalen, RN, a pediatric emergency department nurse who led the delegation, said: “We’re speaking out because our patients deserve better. For too long, Albany Med has cut corners, failing to safely staff our hospital and refusing to listen to frontline nurses. It’s time for Albany Med to put patient care first and settle a contract that helps us to recruit and retain enough nurses at our patients’ bedsides.”

Today NYSNA also released new data about Albany Med’s high nurse turnover that NYSNA nurses received directly from the hospital in union negotiations. Approximately 50 percent of Albany Med nurses have less than 5 years of bedside experience at Albany Med. There are currently nearly 600 vacant nursing positions. Albany Med’s nurse vacancy rate is nearly 25%, while a study found that the average national vacancy rate is 10%.

Hospital-Supplied Data reports that Albany Med’s retention rate is poor, with nurses getting burned out and leaving at alarming rates. For the last two years, more nurses have left the hospital than have been hired. In 2023, Albany Med hired 277 RNs, but 315 left. As of July 2024, the hospital hired 98 RNs, but there have been 156 departures – more than in the same time frame last year. The hospital is on track to hire 100 new grads, which will help fill vacancies, but will not add experienced nurses or address retention problems.

“I’ve been a nurse for 25 years and I’m one of the few experienced nurses left on my labor and delivery unit,” explained Kathryn Dupuis, RN. “Most of our new nurses have one of two years of experience. Inexperienced nurses are left caring for the most critical pregnant patients, without experienced nurses to turn to for help. I see our young nurses get discouraged and leave almost as soon as they arrive because the working conditions are too stressful, and they can’t care for the patients in the way they were trained. We need to fix Albany Med’s retention problem now.” 

Albany Med also has the highest ER visit times in New York state and nurses say that’s largely because hospital management isn’t doing what it takes to hire and retain enough qualified nurses at the bedside.

Last month, NYSNA nurses held a speak-out across the street from the hospital to sound the alarm on unsafe staffing levels that put patient care at risk. Nurses were joined by allies and elected leaders, including Assembly Member Phil Steck, Assembly Member Pat Fahy, Albany County Legislator Dustin Reidy, Albany City Council Member Gabriel Romero, Albany City Council Member Council Member Owusu Amani, the Capital District Area Labor Federation, Albany County Central Federation of Labor, the NYS Labor-Religion Coalition, Citizen Action, and New York State Council of Churches.

The speak-out came on the heels of the New York State Department of Health (DOH) launching an investigation into nurse staffing levels at Albany Medical Center after receiving dozens of complaints from nurses tasked with more patients than they could safely care for. Nurses say management at Albany Medical Center has failed to follow the state’s staffing laws and failed to listen to frontline caregivers who have been telling them that staffing levels at the hospital are unsafe and lead to nurse burnout and high turnover.

Now Albany Med nurses are awaiting the results of the DOH investigation, including the potential citations and remedies that the DOH orders.

This week, NYSNA launched a television ad featuring an Albany Med STAT nurse describing the struggles of working without safe staffing at the hospital and how patient care suffers. The ad can also be viewed on Facebook.  

NYSNA nurses are bargaining for a fair contract before their current contract expires on July 31 and have made safe staffing a top priority. They are asking hospital administrators to follow the staffing law and invest in improving care by recruiting and retaining more nurses for safe, quality care.

The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country’s largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with over 225,000 members nationwide.

Photo credit: NYSNA.