We banged on pans and called them heroes. But what are we doing now to show our appreciation for New York City nurses who put their lives on the line to save ours?
While many of us sheltered in place when New York City was the global epicenter of the pandemic, nurses went to work every day, saving as many lives as possible, holding hands with patients so they wouldn’t have to die alone, setting up calls so dying patients could say goodbye to their loved ones. Nurses labored around the clock, often without enough staff or PPE. Some nurses resorted to making masks out of old scrubs or begging family members to share safety equipment that their own hospitals failed to provide.
Health-care workers faced a 9/11-level disaster each and every day during the height of the pandemic, as hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers were hospitalized, and tens of thousands died. Just like veterans who have been to war, nurses now are dealing with mental and physical health consequences of severe trauma and stress on the job. Some even gave their lives, dying after contracting COVID while saving patients. Others continue to suffer from long COVID or PTSD. Every nurse we talk to is exhausted, burnt out and frankly fed up.
After the height of the pandemic, many New York City hospitals froze hiring, meaning that open nursing positions remained vacant and nurses continued to work short-staffed. We know that safe staffing saves patient lives, but it also protects nurses from burnout and helps retain seasoned health-care workers at the bedsides of patients.
Across the nation, we are facing a nurse staffing crisis of unprecedented proportions. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, every region of the United States has had a shortage of registered nurses at the bedside. In 2021, 66% of nurses said the COVID pandemic made them consider leaving the profession. Another survey in 2022 confirmed that two-thirds of nurses were thinking of leaving the profession in the next two years.
Is it any wonder that nurses are leaving in droves when we’ve done so little to support them staying at the bedside throughout the worst health-care crisis of our lifetime?
Unfortunately, hospital employers are refusing to agree to do what it takes to recruit and retain enough nurses, and are even making COVID nurse heroes fight to keep their current health-care benefits.
We know these hospitals have enough money. While nurses battled COVID, hospital executives at New York City’s richest hospitals paid themselves millions in sky-high salaries and bonuses at the height of the pandemic. NewYork-Presbyterian paid its CEO $11,928,405 in salary, bonuses and perks, and Montefiore paid its CEO $7,422,610 in salary, bonuses and perks in 2020. These same executives were able to work from home while nurses were on the frontlines, facing unimaginable trauma and death. Across the state, hospitals paid out $73 million in bonuses in 2020 to executives and top earners as the pandemic raged on, after receiving $6 billion from the federal CARES Act.
As we head into winter, with RSV cases rampant among our children, and with the prospect of another pandemic surge, we don’t have a minute to spare to address the crisis of short staffing and nurse burnout in our hospitals. That’s why the New York City Council is holding a hearing on Nov. 30 on the state of nursing in our city and on what measures we can take to recruit and retain enough nurses to support our city in a crisis, and every day.
We need to be creative with solutions, and we need the city’s private-sector hospitals to come to the table and give nurses the support they need and deserve. Together, we can create an environment that makes nurses feel respected and makes them want to come work at New York City hospitals every day and stay for lifelong careers serving our city.
Narcisse is chair of the City Council’s Hospitals Committee, and Hagans is president of the New York State Nurses Association.
