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Nurses Say the System Is Flatlining
What’s going on: Across the country, nurses have hit a breaking point, initiating strikes that are impossible to ignore. More than 31,000 health-care workers walked off the job at Kaiser Permanente facilities in California and Hawaii this week. In New York City, nearly 15,000 nurses have been on strike since Jan 12 — the largest nursing walkout in the city’s history. At the heart of both fights sit the same issues: unsafe staffing levels, exhaustion, and contract talks that have stalled. Hospital systems dispute that picture, and Kaiser has labeled its strike “unnecessary.” But the tension has simmered for years. Many hospitals never fully restaffed after the pandemic, and hiring has slowed again, according to Axios.
What it means: When staffing shortages collide with walkouts, patients can feel the strain. Over the past two decades, nursing strikes in New York produced sobering results: Deaths rose nearly 20%, readmissions climbed 6.5%, and ICU patients faced the greatest risk, per Gothamist. So what about the current day-to-day impact? Emergency rooms stay open, but hospitals may push back elective surgeries and reschedule routine visits. Continuity of care can also suffer as temporary nurses fill in and learn about new systems and patients. If you have upcoming visits with one of these hospital networks, stay proactive: Check your patient portal for updates, call ahead about appointments, and flag prescriptions that need refills. And show a little love to the health-care workers in your life — maybe we need to bring back the daily clap and pot bang routine again.
