ALBANY — A critical care nurse at the state's Stony Brook University Hospital on Long Island was handed a personnel notification this week that ordered her to document any unscheduled time off. The document was delivered to her a day after she and another hospital staffer were interviewed on national television by MSNBC about the shortage of protective equipment for workers in hospitals and health care facilities.

The nurse, Amy Lee Pacholk, and James Lewis, a respiratory therapist Stony Brook, were interviewed by Brian Williams during a segment on MSNBC about the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) at hospitals and other health care facilities.

"Our institution and the government have not provided us with the appropriate equipment to properly protect ourselves to care for these patients," Pacholk told Williams on Wednesday night. "The healthcare professionals are getting sick and we haven't even seen the height of this pandemic."

Pacholk was served with the notice by hospital managers on Thursday, indicating she was being targeted for her use of sick time earlier this year. It also came after Pacholk had posted an open letter on Facebook raising similar concerns about the shortage of protective equipment for health care workers.

"Please be advised that this letter is to inform you that your time and attendance record indicates an excessive amount of unscheduled absences," the notice states. "Failure to improve your time and attendance will result in a Document Restriction renewal and be referred to Labor Relations for appropriate administrative actions."

Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements

The latest coronavirus numbers in NY

Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter

Full coronavirus coverage

Sunday night, in a statement, the university said: "It is ... important to pay attention to the timing since all of the actions were taken prior to the nurse going on media. Everyone at Stony Brook Medicine is focused on COVID-19. Our nurses are incredibly dedicated to our patients, the community and to one another. They are pulling together, working extra hours and doing everything possible to help everyone safely through this unprecedented health crisis."

According to correspondence and a person familiar with the matter, Pacholk missed time in January when she was sick, her child was ill and a relative had died. In late February, she reported to work late while suffering from a severe headache that was caused by a condition that triggers the brain pressure to increase and mimics the symptoms of a brain tumor. She was treated in Stony Brook's emergency room for about 36 hours before the condition was diagnosed.

In an interview Monday, Pacholk said she "absolutely" believes the hospital administrators targeted her because she had spoken publicly about the problems facing nurses and other health care workers who are treating people infected with COVID-19.

After March 10, when the notice drafted, "I had worked maybe five or six shifts since then," Pacholk said. "Why did you give it to me the following day (after the MSNBC interview)?"

The action against Pacholk, who works in a critical care area, was handed down as employees in other state agencies have said they were cautioned not to speak to the press about increasing concerns in many workplaces, including inconsistent or absent safety and social distancing mandates.

Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, said the governor’s office, Stony Brook’s upper management and SUNY leadership were not made aware of the decision to serve Pacholk with a warning notice the morning after she appeared on MSNBC.

“Whatever action they were contemplating isn’t going to happen,” Azzopardi said. “Now is not the time.”

When contacted Sunday about Pacholk's disciplinary action, Wayne Spence, the president of her union, the Public Employees Federation, issued a statement: "We are concerned and actively looking into this issue of retaliation given SUNY Stony Brook's past history of going after whistleblowers."

There is a shortage of healthcare workers, especially nurses, as the coronavirus pandemic erupts. Cuomo last week said several times during press briefings that the state is hiring retired nurses and speeding up the certification process for medical schools to authorize healthcare professionals to join the workforce to help deal with the crisis.

Many nurses, including state health nurses, have volunteered to work paid shifts on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak, including testing people in Westchester County, one of the state's hardest hit areas.