CELEBRATE OUR AMAZING NURSES
JNESO is celebrating Nurses Week by shining a light on our amazing nurses, raising awareness about the issues that affect them, and the critical role that JNESO, the professional health care union, plays providing the support and advocacy needed to empower nurses to have safer work environments and to be able to provide the best possible care for patients and their families.
Click here to read about the growing importance of union support for nurses in this increasingly challenging health care environment.
How can you honor the work that nurses do?
1. Say “Thank You” to a special nurse, share your story or a photo of a special nurse, or give a shout-out to all nurses on JNESO’s social media pages using the hashtag #JNESONurses. Click the icons to go directly to our social pages!
2. Nominate JNESO nurses from Lehigh Valley-Pocono Hospital (Pennsylvania) for the annual Salute to Nurses Campaign hosted by the Pocono Record. Click on the button to submit a name, photo and a sentence about how your nurse made a difference.
3. Learn about Safe Staffing and tell your legislators to help patients and nurses by supporting bills that promote standard nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. For Pennsylvania click here. For New Jersey visit patientsafetynj.org
Meet Our Amazing JNESO Nurses!
Jill Wagner, RN
Short Procedure Unit
Nurse: 40 years
“I really enjoy having a rapport with patients. In the ER and SPU people are anxious and don’t know what to expect. So, I talk to them – not at them.”
Marita Medina, RN
Same Day Surgery Unit
Nurse: 36 years
“Nurses are big part of the workforce and that needs to be recognized. We are part of the American Dream, we are there to provide care to people in our communities, but our needs are important too.”
Judi Iannuzzi, RN
Endoscopy Unit
Nurse: 13 years
"I try to make every patient interaction very personal and make a lasting impression. Making their day, making them smile and making them comforted fulfills my goals as a nurse.”
“Now is the time to really shine the spotlight on how incredibly resilient, dedicated, and selfless nurses are, and how critically important their roles are for patients and their families in all healthcare settings. ”
SAFE STAFFING
What is Safe Staffing?
Safe Staffing Ratios involve how many patients each nurse is assigned to care for in a particular hospital unit.
Why is this important?
Nurse staffing shortages in New Jersey, and around the country, has been the norm for so long (decades) that many nurses have worked their entire career in crisis mode. The COVID-19 pandemic only heightened the issue. The unrelenting demands of the profession has exacerbated the crisis, as nurses leave bedside nursing, retire early, or leave the profession altogether.
California has had Safe Staffing legislation in place for years and studies have proven that implementing mandated nurse-to-patient ratios results in improved patient outcomes, fewer patient deaths, and has created safer workplaces for nurses.
How do Safe Staffing Ratios help?
-
Outcomes are better for patients when staffing levels meet those established in California, including an increase in lives saved, shorter hospital stays, and general improvement in quality care (Health Services Research)
-
-
Understaffing is a contributing factor in up to 80 percent of medical errors. (Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality)
-
The higher the proportion of nurses in hospitals whose patient assignment is in compliance with the benchmark set on California-mandated ratios, the lower the nurse burnout and job dissatisfaction, the less likely nurses are to report the quality of their work environment as only fair or poor, the less likely nurses are to report that their workload causes them to miss changes in patients' conditions, and the less likely nurses are to intend to leave their jobs. (Health Services Research)
SAFE STAFFING LEGISLATION
New Jersey
NJ Senate Bill S2700: Establishes minimum registered professional nurse staffing standards for hospitals and ambulatory surgery facilities and certain DHS facilities.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's Patient Safety Act (PA House Bill 106/Senate Bill 240): This legislation would set appropriate ratios for Pennsylvania hospitals dependent upon the acuity of the unit’s patient needs.
JNESO SLIDE SHOW
JNESO has proudly represented nurses for 65 years by supporting initiatives and advocating for changes that ensure the health, well-being, and safety of nurses so they can continue to provide the highest quality of care to their patients.