Understaffing a persistent problem at upstate hospitals

According to a recently released report, around 90 percent of shifts at upstate New York health care facilities are staffed at unsafe levels, as the state continues to face an overall staffing crisis in the medical sector.

The Fiscal Policy Institute released the report, “Upstate New York’s Hospital Staffing Crisis,” which documents what unionized nurses have been claiming for years – that staffing hovers at levels posing risk to patients and nurses at health care facilities, including hospitals.

The report also found that chronic understaffing undermines patient care, which increases the risk for patient mortality by 14 percent.

“90 percent of hospital shifts are understaffed,” said Emily Eisner, an economist with the Fiscal Policy Institute who authored the report. “84 percent of the hospital shifts are understaffed in terms of the RNs, the nurses in the staff and over 90 percent are understaffed in terms of the ancillary or support staff who are also providing direct care to patients, and this is a major issue for the staff themselves, and also for New Yorkers in need of care.”

While a large body of research has documented how understaffing can harm the quality of patient care, it also poses big problems for the health care workforce, Eisner said. Chronic understaffing can cause stress and burnout, leading nurses to depart for other, less stressful jobs or to take early retirement.

Statewide staffing standards went into effect in 2022, but since then, compliance has been difficult to enforce and many nurses say staffing within hospitals remains turbulent.

In order to reach robust staffing levels, upstate hospitals will need to hire 5,000 registered nurses and 20,000 ancillary staff, such as licensed practical nurses or nursing assistants, the Fiscal Policy Institute report found. 

The state has launched initiatives intended to boost the number of incoming workers to join the ranks of New York’s sprawling health care system. In August, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a federal infusion of $646 million that the state will use to recruit and train aspiring health care workers in New York.

For information, go to https://fiscalpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Upstate-New-Yorks-Hospital-Staffing-Crisis.pdf.