“I’m thrilled to announce that the nursing simulation legislation I’ve helped champion has passed the New York State Assembly. Our state is facing a severe nursing shortage that is exhausting healthcare workers and threatening patient safety. In addition to providing nurses with better pay and better working conditions, we must increase the number of nurses in the workforce. This legislation, which was supported by hospitals, universities, and nurses themselves, will go a long way to helping increase the ranks of nurses by allowing schools to enroll and graduate more students. Specifically, the bill allows some of the clinical nurse hours to be satisfied by simulation-based training, which allows students to get hands-on experience in a simulated clinical setting, thus allowing more nurses to be trained and certified. I thank my colleague, Assemblymember Donna Lupardo, for introducing this legislation, and I urge Governor Hochul to sign it into law.”