BY DEBBIE WHITE

EMERSON — Soon after nurses and administrators at Cooper University Health Care settled a contract that included enforceable safe staffing ratios, they began advertising the ratios to recruit prospective nurses. Decades of studies have shown safe staffing saves lives, and as Virtua will realize, it will help to recruit and retain nurses as well.

Thankfully, Cooper is not the only hospital where nurses and patients are benefiting from safe staffing language. Across New Jersey, HPAE has settled 13 contracts that also have enforceable nurse to patient ratios. Click here to review a list of current HPAE contracts' staffing ratios.

Virtua Health will soon understand that this is the single most important issue to our nurses. Last week, 92% of HPAE Local 5105 Registered Nurses voted to authorize a strike if Virtua Health does not reach an agreement that includes safe staffing ratios.

The nurses at Virtua would not be the first in recent years to strike for safe staffing. Earlier this year, New York City nurses went on strike over the staffing and three years ago Nurses in New Brunswick were on strike for five months for the same issue. To be clear, HPAE Local 5105 nurses would much rather care for their patients, than walk a picket line but they will if they must.

The current contract expires on May 31, 2026, so Virtua has until that date to make a decision.

Everyone understands that safe staffing improves the quality of patient care. The multitude of studies confirm what nurses have known for years: safe staffing saves patient lives, improves outcomes, increases both patient and nurse satisfaction, and actually saves hospitals money in reimbursement and retention of staff. Since retention of nurses in our hospitals is such a big issue in our country and turnover costs so high, why would any hospital not want to institute a practice that keeps nurses at the bedside?

Patients also know they deserve better and are standing with nurses to support the demand for safe staffing. Patients would much rather have a nurse who is present, focused and attentive rather than a distracted, stressed out and overwhelmed nurse caring for too many patients at one time.

In addition, nearly 2,000 community members in Burlington County signed a petition calling on Virtua Health to "Get It Done" because our community members support and trust nurses.

California established ratios in hospitals over 20 years ago. Over two decades of studies by researchers like Dr. Linda Aiken, Dr. Matthew McHugh, Dr. Karen Lasater, have highlighted the tremendous advantages to mandating nurse to patient ratios in California.

HPAE has long championed legislation to establish safe staffing ratios at healthcare facilities and we will continue to push our legislators to pass this into law. Until that time, HPAE nurses will continue to bargain nurse-to-patient ratios into their contracts because it is the right thing to do.  We all deserve safe staffing, so Virtua, Get It Done, NOW!

Debbie White is president of HPAE, New Jersey's largest union of healthcare workers