1 month ago
8
The parents of a four-month-old baby in a New York City NICU during the nurses' strike said they had been told by the hospital that their son had been getting better.
Craige and Saran Morgan said that their baby Noah was stable and even improving in the days leading up to his tragic death.
'I was surprised,' Saran Morgan said. 'I thought he was getting better. They basically had just said that he was looking pale.'
Noah died in a Mount Sinai hospital on January 11 while the staff was trying to insert an IV, the day before the nurse strike would end after more than 7,000 went on strike over understaffing.
Sources told Gothamist the infant's tragic passing took place after untrained fill-in nurses and overwhelmed doctors failed to prepare for the walk-out, leading to the baby's blood count not being noticed for hours.
As the hospital begins an investigation into Noah's death - which the Morgans say has 'blindsided them - Saran Morgan told NBC4 that 'If they know that his care was impacted by the strike, we would like to know.'
The parents of a four-month-old baby in a New York City NICU during the nurses' strike said they had been told by the hospital that their son had been getting better
The family has started a GoFundMe to pay for the funeral costs, aiming to raise $12,000.
The probe is required for any infant death that happens at the hospital, with sources suggesting seasoned nurses would have had a better handle on the situation.
'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,' one of the nurses who worked in the NICU during the strike told Gothamist.
However, a hospital insider did not blame the striking nurses but the hospital administration for not either settling or hiring better temporary replacements.
'They essentially tied one hand behind our backs,' the source said. 'Senior executives put all these providers, doctors, nurses, the people caring for these babies, in an impossible situation.'
“The higher level leadership places importance on profit before patients and their staff,' they added. And the outcome for this baby was a devastating consequence of that mentality.”
The baby's death came as unionized nurses took to the streets to protest the lack of staff, leaving healthcare workers to care for too many patients at a time.
'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 union said earlier this month.
Noah died in a Mount Sinai hospital on January 11 while the staff was trying to insert an IV, the day before the nurse strike would end after more than 7,000 went on strike over understaffing
The family has started a GoFundMe to pay for the funeral costs, aiming to raise $12,000
The baby's death came as unionized nurses took to the streets to protest lack of staff, leaving healthcare workers to care for too many patients at a time
Mount Sinai reportedly hired hundreds of travel nurses prior to the strike and staffed the NICU with them and other non-unionized staff. Infants in the NICU reportedly received their medicines hours late on multiple occasions, according to the source, and that doctors were feeding babies, taking vitals, and administering medication, which is normally performed by nurses
Mount Sinai reportedly hired hundreds of travel nurses prior to the strike and staffed the NICU with them and other non-unionized staff. A source told Gothamist one of the travel nurses fell asleep in the NICU while on duty and was asked not to return.
'They put nurses in there who had zero NICU experience,' another source told the outlet. 'Parents felt like they couldn't leave their child's bedside during the strike.'
Infants in the NICU reportedly received their medicines hours late on multiple occasions, according to the source, and that doctors were feeding babies, taking vitals, and administering medication, which is normally performed by nurses.
Mount Sinai runs a 'level four' NICU, meaning they care for critically ill and complex infants, including those who have had open-heart surgery, and require highly-trained nurses.
'[These babies] are not mini-adults. In fact, they're not even mini-children,' Scott Lorch, associate chief of Neonatology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told Gothamist. 'As babies get smaller or sicker, the skills that a nurse needs to care for them gets more specific.'
NYC nurses ended the strike on January 12 after the four-day strike
One NYC nurse described the unit during the strike as 'traumatizing.'
'I've seen and done a lot of difficult things in my career. I've held children when they died, but this was especially traumatizing,' a source told Gothamist. 'I've been having nightmares every night.'
Mount Sinai said the NICU was fully staffed with 17 nurses during the staff, but those inside said it was not about the number, but the qualifications of those nurses.
Mount Sinai also moved some of the NICU babies to other hospitals during the strike, according to Gothamist.
However, Judy Gonzalez, president of the New York State Nurses Association, said neither Mount Sinai nor Montefiore Medical Center - which also went on strike - were 'prepared adequately.'
Nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City were among more than 7,000 nurses at two hospitals who returned to the picket lines
Mount Sinai said the NICU was fully staffed with 17 nurses during the staff, but those inside said it was not about the number, but the qualifications of those nurses
'There are many negative outcomes that occur as a result of understaffing, under-resourcing and inadequate training,' she told Gothamist.
An MIT and Carnegie Mellon University study found in 2010 that between 1984 and 2004 in-patient mortality rates rose 20 percent during strikes in New York.
On average, according to the NYC Department of Health, four babies die for every 1,000 lives birth in the Big Apple.
NYC nurses ended the strike on January 12 after a four-day strike.
The New York Nurses Association reached an agreement with Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center, both of which announced the news at around 4am this morning.
The agreements will result in a 19.1 percent wage increase, the creation of around 170 nursing positions, and improved healthcare benefits, among other perks.
