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SolitaryMarmot t1_j0ud76g wrote

Totally agree. the hospitals agreed to staffing levels with all their employees...not just the nurses and not just the Union ones. They sent those stating plans to the state Dept of Health and now are totally ignoring them.

The state should make it so the hospitals have to pay that payroll no matter what. Either they hire more nurses or they pay it to the current ones. If they are gonna make nurses do the work of 1.5 or 2 of them...they should also get twice the pay.

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Designer-Election-94 t1_j0ui3e3 wrote

Been saying this for years. Also, California fines hospitals 15k if a unit is short staffed. It’s time to enact either or both of these policies.

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SolitaryMarmot t1_j0v20ov wrote

Yes California has the model...they recently raised it to 30k. The regulators there are very hands on (unlike in New York which pretty much leaves the hospital association to regulate itself.)
Another thing NY could do is to amend the tort law to consider lack of staffing not in compliance with state staffing plans as a direct cause for malpractice. Then the state doesn't even have to enfore the law a bunch of ambulence chasing lawyers will do it for them. Most of these hospitals are self insured, let them pay for all the injuries they cause patients who fall on the way to the bathroom because a nurse had 3 tele patients AND 3 med surg patients that day.

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Rakonas t1_j0uk02p wrote

Love the "your payroll must be paid to the remaining staff if you are understaffed" concept.

Never even crossed my mind as an option but fixes pretty much everything.

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