(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA)-Represented Caregivers at Buffalo Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) were frustrated, so frustrated over a Nurse-to-Patient Ratio of 1-to-20 that they took their complaints directly to management - but this time they did something different, they videotaped their journey as they trekked to ECMC’s Human Resources Department, as well as their heated discussions with Hospital Officials.

Those frustrations were then posted to Social Media - TikTok, where the video has now garnered more than 2.5 million views and drawn national media attention to a major problem facing hospitals and health facilities across the United States.

“Its ‘horrible,’ we are ‘over capacity’ with ratios averaging (1 Nurse-to-20 patients).  It should be (1 Nurse-to-3 patients), ‘but we’ve never gotten near that.’  We’re dealing with ‘acute psychiatric’ patients, ‘some that are suicidal, which brings a high risk of injury’ (to those Caregivers treating them),” New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA)/Western New York Regional Director Steve Bailey told WNYLaborToday.com.  “‘What’s worse is that there is no (staffing) plan.’  ‘That’s why there is so much frustration (among NYSNA-represented ECMC Staff) and why you hear f-bombs being dropped by them during the video.’”

Under ecmcnysna on TikTok, the video (www.tiktok.com/@ecmcnysna/video/7176418048906169643?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1) shows a frustrated contingent of NYSNA Members talking to an ECMC Representative in the hospital’s hallway, asking: “Do we have a plan in place for this weekend (to cover the lack of Nurses in the hospital’s Psychiatric Emergency Room, also known as CPEP)?”

The group then heads to ECMC’s Human Resources Department, but no one is there.

They then travel to the Hospital Administration’s offices in a further attempt to contact Representatives to address the staffing problem. 

However, they are told the ECMC Rep they need to talk to is on vacation, but are then able to get a representative on the phone and ask, once again, if ECMC has an actual plan in place to cover Nurses working CPEP.

Again, they come to the realization that there’s no plan in place before a Security Officer asks the NYSNA contingent to disburse.

Bailey, who shot the video and was part of a “group decision’ to post it to Social Media, told WNYLaborToday.com: “In just three days after that video was posted on TikTok, it had more than (2.5 million) views, was subsequently picked up by our local TV stations and then by some within the national media.  ‘How would we have ever gotten the message out stronger?’  ‘It quickly became the poster child for safe staffing and it resonated with people - the general public now seems to understand’ (what Nurses are dealing with).  The administration ‘couldn’t come out to talk to Union Members’ (about the problem).  ‘This (video) showed (ECMC) that we had some power that I think they did not realize.’  ‘Now they’re focusing on damage control.’”

As a result, the New York State Health Department is looking into the staffing situation at ECMC’s Psychiatric Emergency Room, Bailey added (Watch WIVB-TV’s report at www.wivb.com/news/investigates/state-health-department-investigating-staffing-concerns-at-ecmcs-psychiatric-emergency-room/?fbclid=IwAR1lIXLlqAq2a8i_K2r-vrsjbLcUGbyAcwkkrnb6BvRVPzLNeKhQnugsh3g)

Filling needed positions and increasing Staff should be priority one, but ECMC’s hiring system is “broken” and is a “manufactured crisis,” Bailey said. 

“Applications ‘are being buried, they’re not fully utilizing their website while people are trying to get in’ (to apply for jobs),” he said.  “When we do talk to applicants ‘who want to work at ECMC,’ they ask us: ‘Where have you been all my life?’”

The lack of movement to solve the problem by providing “lip service” has “lit a fire” with the hospital’s NYSNA-represented Staff, Bailey said.

And it doesn’t help, he adds, when ECMC is presenting staffing information to the Union - during which Administration Officials claim they are adding bodies, but in truth - have a net hiring loss, Bailey said.

“They’ve ‘dragged their heels’ (in solving the problem),” said Bailey, who underscored the fact NYSNA had negotiated with management for the inclusion of a Union Nurse Recruiter who would work with the hospital to help attract new hires.

Meanwhile, NYSNA is in the midst of negotiating a new contract for its 1,000 Members who are employed at ECMC (NYSNA represents 1,300 Members across Western New York). 

The current pact expires in January (2023) and Bailey says the reaction from management on the hospital’s staffing problems that were depicted on TikTok “is not a great recruiting tool while you’re bargaining a new contract.”