Authorities Investigate Death of 4-Month-Old in NYC NICU During Nurse's Strike

New York authorities were alerted after an unidentified infant was reported unresponsive in the NICU of a Mount Sinai hospital. The baby had a low blood count for hours and this went unnoticed until the final moments. Due to the ongoing strike, the baby was left in the care of underqualified staff who tried to salvage the situation, but it was too late. The incident happened one day before the strike was called off.

The probe is said to be mandatory in case of infant deaths and it started a week ago. According to sources, the baby suffered a heart complication that escalated. One nurse told Gothamist, "These babies can get very sick very quickly…That’s why subtle things you see are important to report, and highly trained NICU nurses do that."

After the unionized nurses announced and effected the strike action Mount Sinai was said to have employed travel nurses and staffed the NICU. The staff also included non-unionized health workers. Someone shared that nurses who had "zero experience" were put in the NICU. The insider added that parents could not leave their kids' bedside due to the development.

With nurses gone, routines were disrupted as the NICU babies reportedly received the scheduled medications late, many times. Doctors took up more roles like feeding the babies, taking their vitals, and administering medication. This was normally done by the nurses.

The health care system in Mount Sinai is run with a level four NICU, and this means they handle the care of critically ill babies and those that undergo open-heart surgery. Associate Chief of Neonatology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Scott Lorch weighed in on the situation sharing that the babies were not "mini adults or mini-children." Lorch relayed that the smaller babies get, the more specific the skills a nurse must have to care for them.

Nurses from two of the largest New York City hospitals put in place strike action due to disagreement over pay and staffing. Leading up to the strike there were attempts at negotiations, but there was no deal for the demands. Over 3,500 nurses from Montefiore Medical Center joined the strike while about 3,600 nurses from Mount Sinai also joined the movement.

According to the New York State Nurses Association that presented the nurses, there were issues with the understaffed system and this led to drastic measures. The NYSNA shared in a statement, "Nurses don't want to strike. Bosses have pushed us to strike by refusing to seriously consider our proposals to address the desperate crisis of unsafe staffing that harms our patients."

The healthcare workers also took to the streets bearing pizza placards. When asked about the significance of the pizza images, it was revealed that whenever nurses complained about being short-staffed, the response was usually a pizza party.

With news pointing at the then-impending strike, Montefiore, and Mount Sinai prepare for the walkout by diverting ambulances ad emergencies to other institutions around. Patients were also transferred, while non-emergency medical procedures were postponed.

Governor Kathy Hochul weighed in on the situation by urging the union and the hospitals to take their dispute to binding arbitration. This occurred on Sunday. The union did not immediately accept the proposal while sharing that the government should give a listening ear to the COVID nurses and respect the federally-protected labor rights.

The latest update on the walkout organized by the NYSNA showed that the union reached an agreement with Mount Sinai and Montefiore. The agreement will result in a 19.1 percent wage increase. this will also include the creation of around 170 nursing positions and improved healthcare benefits.