Letter To Editor: NJSNA Supports Safe Staffing Ratios
The New Jersey State Nurses Association (NJSNA) supports minimum nurse staffing standards (a minimum number of nurses-to-patients) to ensure safe, quality care for you, the citizens of New Jersey.
Amid the backdrop of an ongoing nurses strike in the Garden State, nurses—who are the foundation of our healthcare system—need support.
NJSNA appreciates the nurses across the state who are advocating for safe staffing levels in healthcare systems and recognizes that inappropriate nurse staffing levels significantly and negatively affect 1) safe patient care, increasing the likelihood of medication errors, infections, and patient deaths, and 2) caregiver well-being, increasing nurse stress, burnout, and injury.
At a time when the demand for nurses is expected to rise, this staffing crisis has our nurses leaving the bedside, deciding to retire early, or leaving our noble profession.
Nurses save lives! This staffing crisis must end.
Nurses appreciate the support the public bestowed on them during the pandemic. We want to continue to deliver high-quality care to our patients under safe working conditions. NJSNA supports the American Nurses Association recommendations to reform the work environment for nurses. This includes advocating for state and federal legislation that advances minimum staffing standards with acuity considerations.
How can you help? Contact your NJ legislators to support the staffing bill circulating in Trenton (A4536/S304)! We need minimum safe staffing standards now.
- Sandra Foley, DNP MSN RN, NJSNA President
(This story originally appeared in Press of Atlantic City.)
