Testimonials
Jennifer Santoro Shickler, RN
Senior Administrative Director, Patient Care Services
Northwell Health (Long Island Jewish Medical Center)
"I’ve been a nurse for fifteen years. In healthcare, nurses need to be flexible. We need to keep an open mind and make sure we’re individualizing our patients’ plans of care. We need to look at each day, each nurse, each unit, and assess what they need. I believe mandated staffing ratios will be bad for nurses and wrong for the healthcare of my patients."
Margaret Murphy, RN
Associate Executive Director, Patient Care Services & Chief Nursing Officer
Northwell Health (Long Island Jewish Medical Center)
"One of my biggest concerns about mandated staffing ratios is that they are a very stagnant approach to a very dynamic process. We should not be staffing based on numbers – we should staff based on patient care needs and skill set and the competency of the caregiver."
Kara Benneche, RN
Director, Patient Care Services
Northwell Health (Long Island Jewish Medical Center)
"Patient care is not a one-size-fits-all process. Acuity levels vary from patient to patient, especially in an emergency room. I worked in a busy emergency department for many years and it is imperative that nurses maintain autonomy and flexibility to adjust staffing ratios in order to provide safe care. Government mandated staffing ratios will sacrifice safety and quality by taking away our flexibility to treat patients safely based on their individual needs."
Leslyn Williamson, RN
Executive Vice President, Operations & Chief Nursing Officer
Ellis Hospital
"Mandated staffing ratios would have a negative impact on all hospitals, especially on community hospitals in rural areas that may have to close if they cannot staff the number of nurses to meet the volume of patients they are receiving. I am against mandated staffing ratios because they will greatly impact how we provide safe patient care. We need to ensure that we can match the complexities of the patient with the competency of our nurses to provide quality care for our patients."
Donna Anderson, RN
Chief Nursing Officer & Vice President, Clinical Support Services
Bassett Medical Center
"I am against mandated staffing ratios because it takes away our ability as nurses to build strategic, innovative plans that will allow us to deliver the best quality of care."
Ann Leonhardt Caprio, RN, ANP-BC
Program Coordinator, UR Medicine Comprehensive Stroke Center
& Co-Director Quality and Safety, Department of Neurology
University of Rochester Medical Center
"Acute stroke treatment is extremely time sensitive, so having the ability to be flexible as a highly trained nurse is crucial to ensuring the best patient outcomes. Rapid treatment gives patients the best chance of being independent after a stroke. We’re the only comprehensive stroke center in Rochester. If we were unable to provide treatment because we were at our legal ratio capacity, stroke patients would have to wait for care or travel a further distance to be treated, which means those patients are more likely to be permanently disabled after a stroke."
Sarah Corsette RN-BC, BSN
Senior Level III RN, Senior Preceptor
Strong Memorial Hospital
"I’m an acute medicine RN, and I’m against mandated staffing ratios because I know the care team at my side is critical to providing safe, top-quality patient care every day. How can we provide specialized care to every patient if we don’t have the flexibility or support staff to do so?"
David Lent
Clinical Nurse Leader
Strong Memorial Hospital
"I am against mandated nurse staffing ratios because they do not consider the unique needs of each patient. Not all patients are the same, As an ICU charge nurse, I would be denied the ability to make critical bedside staffing decisions. It just doesn’t make sense."
Sara J. Bachmann, BSN, RN, CRRN
Assistant Nurse Manager, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Strong Memorial Hospital
"I’m a registered nurse and I’ve spent the majority of my time at the bedside. With these ratios, we would constantly be handing off patients from nurse to nurse, and this is when errors happen. I also fear that if an emergency, like a car accident or snowstorm, caused an influx of patients, we would be forced to turn patients away."
Julie Colvin, RN-BC
Director, Nursing Practice
Strong Memorial Hospital
"Not much fazes me. I’ve been a nurse for 34 years, starting out as an emergency nurse in the military. Mandated staffing ratios truly scare me. They would have a negative impact on safe patient care and would rob us of our flexibility to staff according to the unique needs of our patients."
The Coalition for Safe and Affordable Care is a diverse group of organizations with the shared belief that nurse staffing ratios are unnecessary and unaffordable for New York's hospitals and nursing homes.
- Business Council of New York State
- Coalition of New York State Public Health Plans
- Continuing Care Leadership Coalition
- Greater New York Hospital Association
- Healthcare Association of New York State
- Iroquois Healthcare Alliance
- LeadingAge New York
- New York Organization of Nurse Executives and Leaders
- New York State Coalition of Managed Long Term Care/PACE Plans
- New York State Health Facilities Association
- NYS Council of Deans of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree in Nursing Programs
- Organization of Nurse Leaders, Massachusetts
- Organization of Nurse Leaders, New Jersey
- Pandion Healthcare: Education & Advocacy
- Partnership for New York City
- Pennsylvania Organization of Nurse Leaders
- Southern New York Association
- Suburban Hospital Alliance of New York State
- Westchester County Association
- Western New York Healthcare Association
Testimonials
Jennifer Santoro Shickler, RN
Senior Administrative Director, Patient Care Services
Northwell Health (Long Island Jewish Medical Center)
"I’ve been a nurse for fifteen years. In healthcare, nurses need to be flexible. We need to keep an open mind and make sure we’re individualizing our patients’ plans of care. We need to look at each day, each nurse, each unit, and assess what they need. I believe mandated staffing ratios will be bad for nurses and wrong for the healthcare of my patients."
Margaret Murphy, RN
Associate Executive Director, Patient Care Services & Chief Nursing Officer
Northwell Health (Long Island Jewish Medical Center)
"One of my biggest concerns about mandated staffing ratios is that they are a very stagnant approach to a very dynamic process. We should not be staffing based on numbers – we should staff based on patient care needs and skill set and the competency of the caregiver."
Kara Benneche, RN
Director, Patient Care Services
Northwell Health (Long Island Jewish Medical Center)
"Patient care is not a one-size-fits-all process. Acuity levels vary from patient to patient, especially in an emergency room. I worked in a busy emergency department for many years and it is imperative that nurses maintain autonomy and flexibility to adjust staffing ratios in order to provide safe care. Government mandated staffing ratios will sacrifice safety and quality by taking away our flexibility to treat patients safely based on their individual needs."
Leslyn Williamson, RN
Executive Vice President, Operations & Chief Nursing Officer
Ellis Hospital
"Mandated staffing ratios would have a negative impact on all hospitals, especially on community hospitals in rural areas that may have to close if they cannot staff the number of nurses to meet the volume of patients they are receiving. I am against mandated staffing ratios because they will greatly impact how we provide safe patient care. We need to ensure that we can match the complexities of the patient with the competency of our nurses to provide quality care for our patients."
Donna Anderson, RN
Chief Nursing Officer & Vice President, Clinical Support Services
Bassett Medical Center
"I am against mandated staffing ratios because it takes away our ability as nurses to build strategic, innovative plans that will allow us to deliver the best quality of care."
Ann Leonhardt Caprio, RN, ANP-BC
Program Coordinator, UR Medicine Comprehensive Stroke Center
& Co-Director Quality and Safety, Department of Neurology
University of Rochester Medical Center
"Acute stroke treatment is extremely time sensitive, so having the ability to be flexible as a highly trained nurse is crucial to ensuring the best patient outcomes. Rapid treatment gives patients the best chance of being independent after a stroke. We’re the only comprehensive stroke center in Rochester. If we were unable to provide treatment because we were at our legal ratio capacity, stroke patients would have to wait for care or travel a further distance to be treated, which means those patients are more likely to be permanently disabled after a stroke."
Sarah Corsette RN-BC, BSN
Senior Level III RN, Senior Preceptor
Strong Memorial Hospital
"I’m an acute medicine RN, and I’m against mandated staffing ratios because I know the care team at my side is critical to providing safe, top-quality patient care every day. How can we provide specialized care to every patient if we don’t have the flexibility or support staff to do so?"
David Lent
Clinical Nurse Leader
Strong Memorial Hospital
"I am against mandated nurse staffing ratios because they do not consider the unique needs of each patient. Not all patients are the same, As an ICU charge nurse, I would be denied the ability to make critical bedside staffing decisions. It just doesn’t make sense."
Sara J. Bachmann, BSN, RN, CRRN
Assistant Nurse Manager, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Strong Memorial Hospital
"I’m a registered nurse and I’ve spent the majority of my time at the bedside. With these ratios, we would constantly be handing off patients from nurse to nurse, and this is when errors happen. I also fear that if an emergency, like a car accident or snowstorm, caused an influx of patients, we would be forced to turn patients away."
Julie Colvin, RN-BC
Director, Nursing Practice
Strong Memorial Hospital
"Not much fazes me. I’ve been a nurse for 34 years, starting out as an emergency nurse in the military. Mandated staffing ratios truly scare me. They would have a negative impact on safe patient care and would rob us of our flexibility to staff according to the unique needs of our patients."
The Coalition for Safe and Affordable Care is a diverse group of organizations with the shared belief that nurse staffing ratios are unnecessary and unaffordable for New York's hospitals and nursing homes.
- Business Council of New York State
- Coalition of New York State Public Health Plans
- Continuing Care Leadership Coalition
- Greater New York Hospital Association
- Healthcare Association of New York State
- Iroquois Healthcare Alliance
- LeadingAge New York
- New York Organization of Nurse Executives and Leaders
- New York State Coalition of Managed Long Term Care/PACE Plans
- New York State Health Facilities Association
- NYS Council of Deans of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree in Nursing Programs
- Organization of Nurse Leaders, Massachusetts
- Organization of Nurse Leaders, New Jersey
- Pandion Healthcare: Education & Advocacy
- Partnership for New York City
- Pennsylvania Organization of Nurse Leaders
- Southern New York Association
- Suburban Hospital Alliance of New York State
- Westchester County Association
- Western New York Healthcare Association