Nurses will talk about their experiences over the past year and describe survey results that show existing RN staffing and other healthcare problems made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic
BOSTON, Mass. – To mark the beginning of National Nurses Week, nurses and healthcare professionals with the Massachusetts Nurses Association will release and speak about “The State of Nursing in Massachusetts,” a survey of more than 500 registered nurses showing that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated troubling healthcare trends such as unsafe patient assignments, diminished time with patients, and a lack of workplace safety.
National Nurses Week begins each year on May 6 and ends on May 12, Florence Nightingale's birthday. For 19 years, nurses have topped Gallup’s ranking of the most trusted professions. They have been called “healthcare heroes” throughout the pandemic, but during National Nurses Week are seeking important, lasting changes to the Massachusetts healthcare system that properly protect and support patient safety, nurses, and other staff.
National Nurses Week and Survey Results Press Conference
Date: Thursday, May 6
Time: 11 a.m.
Location: Outside the State House in Boston, in front of the main staircase on Beacon Street.
Details: Attendees will don masks and maintain responsible social distances. Speakers will include nurses and State Rep. Denise Garlick, D-Needham, a registered nurse and longtime advocate for nurses and patients at the State House.
“The State of Nursing in Massachusetts” is a randomized survey of Massachusetts RNs conducted March 25 to March 30 by Boston-based Beacon Research. Nurses from all types of healthcare settings were involved in the survey, including teaching hospitals, community hospitals, non-hospital settings and non-direct patient care. A plurality of nurses who responded (45%) worked in hospitals and most (58%) were not MNA members.
The survey results will be released on May 6. They demonstrate strong support among nurses for addressing issues that MNA nurses and healthcare professionals have proposed tackling through state legislation proposed during the 2021-2022 term, including presumption of workplace COVID-19 infection, personal protective equipment (PPE) data transparency, workplace violence prevention, independent studies of the nursing workforce, essential services protections, and a measure to relieve emergency department overcrowding by behavioral health patients.
-###-
MassNurses.org │ Facebook.com/MassNurses │ Twitter.com/MassNurses │ Instagram.com/MassNurses
____________________________________________
Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
“
