(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – The news crews covering a New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) press conference held outside the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) on Wednesday (May 31st) went silent for several moments as they listened to Registered Nurse (RN) John Batson talk about the more than 200 incidents of violence that the Union says has occurred inside Buffalo’s East Side Safety Net Hospital over just the past 12 months - with a great number of them impacting the Nurses who treat patients there.

“There have been ‘hundreds’ (of violent altercations) over the last twelve months involving patients.  ‘We’ve literally become punching bags,’” Batson a 20-year RN who works in the Medical Intensive Care Unit bluntly said while standing in front of a microphone.

As an example, NYSNA Nurses pointed to what they said was a recent incident where one of their fellow Nurses “was violently kicked into a wall by a patient.”

“It’s been ‘extremely difficult to witness my colleagues face assault and violence at work without support or even a clear process from management.’  ‘We need’ the leadership (at ECMC) ‘to lead by example,’” said Batson (Pictured Below, In Front Of News Microphones/WNYLaborToday.com Photo), whose NYSNA Colleagues recounted the battle it took to get Hospital Administration to agree to install metal detectors to prevent weapons from entering the hospital and begin to quell the number of violent incidents that Nurses say are continuing to occur at ECMC.

NYSNA helped create the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Initiative, where Nurses who’ve been trained and certified investigate each incident and offer help to those Nurses and Medical Professionals who’ve been injured in such altercations, said Jennifer Brinkworth, an RN at ECMC with more than 30 years of experience.

Nurses also called for ECMC Representatives to get serious in not only negotiating a new contract - the old one expired on December 31st (2022) and negotiations have been ongoing for eight months now, and work with NYSNA to increase staffing, as well as retain and recruit Nurses, which, they say, has been draining.

“We are a Safety Net Hospital and a (Level) ‘One’ Trauma Center ‘that does not turn anyone away,’” said nine-year RN and NYSNA Member Crystal Knihinicki (Pictured Below, Speaking At The News Conference/WNYLaborToday.com Photo). 

“We ‘had to fight for metal detectors for weapons screening.’  ‘We’re fighting to retain’ Nurses.  ‘We’ve pushed’ a Nursing Apprenticeship Program ‘to help recruit new Nurses to avoid a staffing crisis.’  Nurses ‘have no’ Retiree Health Care (to offer younger Nurses in their recruiting process).  ‘Why would young Nurses want to come here?’  But (Hospital Administration) ‘refuses to be a partner’ (in this effort),” she said.

Those ECMC-employed NYSNA Members who stood behind each Nurse who spoke were unified in their commitment, saying: “‘We will not give up.’  ‘We will not be silenced, dismissed or back down.’”

While NYSNA Nurses are continuing to “put their lives on the line,” those who spoke at the news conference alleged Hospital Management continues to be late for bargaining sessions and responds to only one or two issues, instead of a list of areas that Nurses believe are important. 

“They ‘show up late with little to no proposals and refuse to engage with us,’” said RN Knihinicki, calling it “blatant disrespect.”

Despite what has transpired, Nurses called on Hospital Administrators to start negotiating in good faith to address their workplace safety concerns and make the decision to invest in Nurse recruitment and retention efforts to ensure safe patient care.

“‘We are here to protect our patients.’  ‘That’s why we are out here - to educate the community,’” one NYSNA Nurse said.

NYSNA/ECMC RN Lona DeNisco (Pictured Above, On The Left/WNYLaborToday.com Photo) said: “Here we are – ‘again, fighting for basics, for what (Nurses) deserve.’  ‘We will continue to protect ourselves and our patients (an ask management) to do what’s right.’”

NYSNA - New York’s largest Union and Professional Association for RNs, represents more than 42,000 Members - including around 300 at ECMC.

NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the country's largest and fastest-growing Union and Professional Association of RNs, with more than 225,000 Members nationwide.

WNYLaborToday.com Photos.