New York City, July 23, 2012 – When hospital administrators don’t provide enough nurses, patients pay the price – in higher rates of hospital-acquired infections, falls, readmissions, and even deaths.

Nurses say the solution is legislated nurse-to-patient ratios, and hundreds of New York nurses are gathering to review the evidence and speak out in support of safe staffing legislation on Tuesday, July 24, at 10 am, at the New Yorker Hotel, 481 Eighth Ave., New York, NY.

“Every New Yorker deserves the same quality of care,” said Pat Kane, a nurse at Staten Island University Hospital.

“That’s why we need to set statewide nurse-to-patient ratio legislation – the best way to improve care and outcomes for our patients.”

The Safe Staffing Summit is sponsored by the 37,000-member New York State Nurses Association, and supported by other unions representing hundreds of thousands of New York workers.

Nurses are coming from some of New York City’s largest hospitals: Health and Hospital Corporation’s hospitals and clinics, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt, Mt. Sinai, Montefiore, Maimonides and New York-Presbyterian – as well as dozens of community hospitals, and from as far away as Buffalo’s Erie County Medical Center.

California nurses will talk about how they made their state the first to pass safe nurse-to-patient ratio legislation, in 1999. New York nurses will discuss how they can pass that legislation here in the 2013 legislative session.

“Study after study shows that unsafe staffing levels are hurting our patients,” said Julie Pinkham, RN, NYSNA’s Executive Director. “This state needs clear, enforceable nurse-to-patient ratios so every patient, in every hospital, will receive consistent quality of care.”

The New York State Nurses Association is the voice for nursing in the Empire State. With more than 37,000 members, it is New York’s largest professional association and union for registered nurses. The association represents registered nurses, and some all-professional bargaining units, in New York and New Jersey. It supports nurses and nursing practice through education, research, legislative advocacy, and collective bargaining.