NY Nurse: February/March 2023

On March 23, the NYSNA nurses at One Brooklyn Health Interfaith Medical Center and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center unanimously ratified new contracts, bringing the historic campaign of 17,000 New York City private-sector members bargaining on a common platform to an end.

A new NYSNA NYC Health+Hospitals/Mayorals Executive Council was elected in March. It includes, (pictured here in this ad) Vice President Alizia McMyers, RN, President Sonia Lawrence, RN, Secretary Kristle Simms-Murphy, NP, RN.

New York City is facing the worst understaffing crisis we have ever seen in its public hospitals and Mayoral agencies, with nurses leaving for the private sector where they get higher pay and better working conditions. This must be addressed with a fair contract for the 9,000 NYSNA nurses who work for NYC H+H (our nation’s largest municipal health care delivery system of public hospitals, community-based health centers, long-term care and rehabilitation facilities, correctional health services), and for our Mayoral agencies.

This month, many in the nation are celebrating Women’s History Month. This is a time to honor the luminaries who came before us, while celebrating those still living among and still inspiring us. It’s also a moment to take stock of how far we’ve come — in New York, our governor and our attorney general are women, and for the first time in U.S. history, we have a Black woman serving on the United States Supreme Court. And how far we still must go — women are still paid less than their male counterparts.