Dear Friend,

Nurses Close Out the Third Week of New York City’s Largest Nurse Strike

Although hospital management has not shown that it is eager to settle a fair contract, nurses fought hard and made major progress toward protecting their high-quality healthcare — a key sticking point in bargaining at Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian. Both hospital systems signed an agreement with NYSNA that maintains NYSNA Plan A health benefits with no cuts. This clears a major hurdle for nurses in New York City and across the state. Nurses continue to work on bargaining proposals and fight for fair contracts that protect patient and nurse safety.

Over the past week, striking nurses have kept busy, using time on the strike line to bring awareness to priority issues. They welcomed elected officials, including members of Congress Adriano Espaillat, Jerry Nadler, Nydia Velazquez and Grace Meng, to the picket line at Mount Sinai. At NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital (CHONY), labor allies spoke out in solidarity with nurses, including DC37 AFSCME; 1199SEIU; 32BJ SEIU; CWA District 1; PSC-CUNY; UAW Region 9A; and the NYC Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

NYSNA nurses held vigils and days of action to call attention to the violence spread by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On Tuesday and Thursday, nurses held vigils at separate hospitals and joined a labor-led vigil for Alex Pretti, RN, as part of a week of action across the country in honor of Pretti and others whom ICE has tragically killed.

The media have been following the strike closely. Some of the highlights include The New York Times, New York Magazine, The City, The Guardian, New York Daily News, Politico, The Nation, The Associated Press, ABC7, News12, PIX11, Crain’s, AMNY, Amsterdam News and El Diario.

To see more photos, visit our Facebook page. Visit NYC Hospital Greed to learn more about the campaign. One day longer, one day stronger!

Samaritan Medical Center and Carthage and Claxton Ratify Contracts and Protect NYSNA Benefit Plan!

After months of bargaining, NYSNA nurses at Samaritan Medical Center and North Star Carthage Area Hospital and Claxton Hepburn Medical Center fought for and won contracts that protect the NYSNA Benefit Plan. Both hospitals ratified their contracts overwhelmingly.

Congratulations, North Country nurses! Now it’s time for management at five other North Country hospitals to do right by NYSNA members and settle fair contracts.

Support Nurses on Strike!

To secure the contract that nurses and patients in New York City deserve, we need all our union members to support and take action. As covered above, on Monday, Jan. 12, nearly 15,000 nurses walked out in a historic action. Management has taken all week to return to the bargaining table, but nurses will continue to fight! We need all the support we can get from NYSNA nurses and the broader community. To see ways you can support our NYSNA nurses, click here. Take a moment to send a message to greedy healthcare CEOs; donate to the NYSNA Protected Action Hardship Relief Fund (see below for more); and, most importantly, join us on the picket line!

New Streamlined Hardship Fund Procedure!

Due to the length of the New York City Strike and the number of members affected, NYSNA’s Hardship Fund Committee has determined that every member on strike at this time should receive a grant from the fund. To make this as easy as possible for NYSNA members, the committee has streamlined the application and approval process for this strike. To receive the grant, a member on strike must only fill out a short attestation form to confirm they have not crossed the picket line; the committee will send the form via eblast. Striking members do not need to submit an application on the longer form that NYSNA previously provided. We are doing everything we can to make sure payments are sent out as quickly as possible!

Recognizing Donors to NYSNA Hardship Relief Fund for Striking Nurses

We want to thank all our community supporters who have made donations to the NYSNA Protected Action Hardship Relief Fund. Thus far, we’ve received over 1,300 donations. We truly appreciate all the support. We are now sending our popular red NYSNA winter hat to supporters who make a donation of $50 or more to the Hardship Fund. Please share the link with friends and family.

Save the Date! Lobby Day 2026

Save the date for NYSNA Lobby Day on March 10. NYSNA members know that the fight for safe staffing, health equity and more requires allies. That’s why, every year, we meet elected officials in Albany to share our goals and ask them to join our fight. Sign up here and make sure the elected officials in Albany hear nurses’ voices!

Save the Date! Public Sector Nurses – Fix Tier 6

Join allies in Albany for a rally to call for legislators to Fix Tier 6. The action takes place on March 8, 2026, in the Albany MVP arena. You can join your fellow NYSNA members and allies to demand fairer pensions for public sector employees who are part of New York’s Tier 6 system. To sign up, click here.

Your Rights to Advocate for Patients When Encountering ICE

Nurses’ first duty is to care for and advocate for our patients. NYSNA nurses care for all New Yorkers regardless of immigration status, income or insurance status, race, religion, ability or disability, sexuality, or gender identity or expression — simply regardless. Read our statement regarding the federal policy change on immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations,” including hospitals and schools.

Our allies at the New York Immigration Coalition developed this toolkit to provide a comprehensive list of resources for community members, partners and allies who work with immigrants. The toolkit covers health, community safety, family resources, financial empowerment and more.

Learn your rights and get answers to frequently asked questions here to know what to do if you encounter ICE officers in your facility.

NYSNA has also prepared this list of legal resources related to immigration. Please review and share widely.

In Memory: Alex Pretti

Across the country, nurses from National Nurses United (NNU) mobilized and held an entire week of candlelight vigils to honor nurse Alex Pretti, RN, and all others whom ICE has killed. Nurses are outraged and disgusted by ICE’s presence in our communities and the escalation of violence that has resulted in the killings of Pretti, Renee Nicole Good, Keith Porter and Silverio Villegas González and the deaths of 32 others who died in ICE custody in 2025. As nurses, we will continue to advocate for our communities and are committed to protecting our patients and ensuring that all patients get the care they deserve.

Sign Up for New NNU Courses Free for NYSNA Members

National Nurses United (NNU) is offering FREE virtual courses for NYSNA members. New Winter/Spring 2026 courses have been added. View the full calendar and register here, or click on the links below to learn more and register for the courses you’re interested in. When registering for NNU courses, be sure to check the first box, “Yes, I am a CNA/NNOC/NNU member.”

Winter/Spring offerings:

• “Our Patients Are Safe When We Are Safe: Workplace Violence and Back Injury Prevention in Health Care Facilities”

• “Trust and Doubt in the Fight for Health”

Seasonal Flu Alert and Resources

Flu season in New York state is continuing in full force. In addition to the expected A and B strains, an additional flu strain mutation (influenza A H3N2 mutated from a “J” subclade to a “K” subclade) has emerged recently. Subclade K has quickly become the dominant strain in the U.S. and a number of other countries. It is not unusual for mutations like this to happen, but because the flu vaccine must be produced many months in advance, this type of change can result in a mismatch between the seasonal flu vaccine and the currently circulating flu strains. While this means the vaccine’s effectiveness may be lower, it can still decrease the incidence of severe disease, hospitalization and death.

Read more on this year’s flu and how to best protect yourself here and use this checklist to assess your facility’s response to the surge. If you have any questions or concerns regarding flu activity and infection control in your facility, please contact the NYSNA Occupational Health and Safety Representatives at [email protected].

Long COVID Guide

Read NYSNA’s Long COVID Guide to help you stay informed on the diagnosis, treatment options, benefits and rights for workers with long COVID.

NYSNA NEP ACP Educational Needs Survey

We value your input! Your feedback is essential and will help us enhance the NYSNA Nursing Education Program (NEP) and create new continuing education opportunities designed specifically for our Advanced Clinical Providers/Practitioners (ACP) members. Please take a moment to complete our survey. Your participation is entirely voluntary, and we sincerely appreciate your time and insights. All responses are completely confidential and will directly inform the future programs and offerings we develop. If you have any questions, call 212-785-0157, ext. 377, or email [email protected]. Thank you for your participation in this survey and for your dedication to lifelong learning!

Reporting Child Abuse Course Addendum Is Live on E-LeaRN

NYSNA’s Nursing Education and Practice (NEP) is happy to announce that NYSNA’S NYS Child Abuse: Identification and Reporting, 8th Edition — Addendum online course is now live on our E-LeaRN platform.

Anyone who completed the NYSNA course, NYS Child Abuse: Identification and Reporting, 8th Edition, through the NYSNA E-LeaRN platform between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2025, is eligible to complete the addendum course with us. The addendum course is free for NYSNA members. If you are eligible, you may access the addendum course by logging onto E-LeaRN by clicking “Browse Catalog” and searching for “addendum.”

Every person who is required to take the mandated training related to child abuse must take either the full three-hour course or the one-hour addendum portion of the training by Nov. 17, 2026.

Check out the NYSNA website for the latest updates to this requirement. If you have any questions about your E-LeaRN account, please contact NEP at [email protected].

Call for Submissions! The Journal of the New York State Nurses Association

The Journal of the New York Nurses Association is calling for submissions. Authors are invited to submit scholarly papers, research studies, brief reports on clinical or educational innovations, and articles of opinion on subjects important to registered nurses. Of particular interest are papers addressing direct care issues. New authors and student authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts for publication. Read the latest flyer outlining submission categories here. Read the guidelines for submission here.

The latest volume of The Journal of the New York State Nurses Association is out now! You can read it here.

Med-Ed Continuing Education Discount

NYSNA has partnered with Med-Ed Continuing Nursing Education to provide NYSNA members with full access to the complete Med-Ed catalogue at a 50% reduced rate. These are all self-study programs that members can access and complete at their leisure. You can access these course offerings by going to NYSNA’s members-only website here, then clicking on the Med-Ed website link, and entering the Promo Code NYSNAMEMBER at checkout, where the discount will apply.

Please do not share this information with any nonmembers.

2026 Nurse Education and Practice Workshops

The 2026 Calendar is now live! NYSNA members can take advantage of FREE E-LeaRN courses, including state-mandated offerings, standard of practice and certification review courses, as well as nursing practice workshops. Take a look at the 2026 complete course offering, and register for the courses directly here. You must create an account and be signed in to search the full catalog of classes and register for them at no cost!

Seminar at Sea 2026 — Registration Full

Every year, NYSNA nurses sail across the world while learning about resilience, emotional intelligence and how they connect to nursing. It is an opportunity to visit beautiful countries while obtaining nursing continuing education credits. Registration for this year’s trip to China, South Korea and Japan in April is now closed, but stay tuned later in the year for information on next year’s trip!

Calling All Nurse Practitioners

The NYSNA Nursing Education and Practice Department has added required and important educational offerings specifically for nurse practitioners (NPs). The courses include new, updated and mandated courses. Learn more and register for these classes for NYSNA NPs.

Nurses’ Rights to Be Whistleblowers and Protest Your Assignments

NYSNA members should be empowered with the knowledge of laws that have been passed with NYSNA’s input to protect them and empower them to speak up when patient safety is compromised, either due to unsafe staffing or other factors, such as a lack of personal protective equipment, as was the case throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Take a moment to learn about your rights in this flyer.

NYSNA Life Insurance — It’s Time to Designate Your Beneficiary!

NYSNA already provides members with a great benefit at no cost: Basic MetLife Life Insurance! This coverage provides $20,000 of Basic Life Insurance and $20,000 of Basic Personal Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance. All active members in good standing represented for collective bargaining through the union will automatically be enrolled in the plan. This union benefit is in addition to any other insurance provided by your benefits fund, your contract or through your employer.

But for your loved ones to receive this benefit, you must designate them as a beneficiary! To enroll and receive instructions on designating a beneficiary for your new Basic Personal AD&D Insurance, go to nysnawinstonbenefits.com or call 1-866-483-1124.

Sign up with your NYSNA Member ID to set up and access your account and benefits. If you need your Member ID, please contact the NYSNA Membership department at [email protected]. Download the flyer for additional details.

NYSNA Will-Writing Benefits From MetLife

The NYSNA Benefits Fund gives NYSNA members who are covered by the NYSNA Benefits Fund access to personal will preparation services that MetLife Legal Plans offer — at no additional cost.

Having a will prevents unnecessary stress and ensures final wishes are clear. The Benefits Fund offers valuable legal resources through MetLife Legal Plans to assist with creating or updating a will with a member’s Basic Life coverage. As part of this benefit, members get legal guidance and unlimited consultations with network attorneys. Learn more here.

NYSNA Members Are Eligible for AFL-CIO’s Union Plus Benefits!

The benefits of being a NYSNA member extend beyond your NYSNA benefits. As an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, NYSNA members are also eligible for Union Plus benefits to help current and retired labor union members and their families save money and support them through major milestones, celebrations and hardships. These benefits include discounts on wireless plans, credit card deals, mortgage deals, insurance plans and more! Find out more on the AFL-CIO Union Plus website.

The Talkspace Go App Is Mental Health on the Go!

The Talkspace Go app is a great resource that provides daily mental health support on the go! Talkspace Go is a clinician-created, self-guided app so you can address mental health challenges and build mental fitness on your own schedule. It empowers couples, individuals and parents to take progress into their own hands in as little as five minutes a day. Access 400-plus self-guided classes and live weekly therapist-led, anonymous classes. Enjoy assessments, meditation exercises, journaling, reminders and more.

Talkspace Go app is available at no cost to members and their eligible household members! Click here for the instructions and passcode to access the app.

Free Benefits for NYSNA Members: Union Assistance Program and SPAN

The Union Assistance Program (UAP) is a confidential self-help program, independent from NYSNA, that is available to NYSNA members and their families as a membership benefit. When an employee or family member (18 or older) faces a significant personal problem, they can call UAP’s experienced counselors at 800-252-4555 for assistance at any time. Read more information on phone counseling services here.

Check out the January 2026 newsletter here, which focuses on growth-based resolutions for the new year.

Statewide Peer Assistance for Nurses (SPAN) is a confidential education, support and advocacy program for all nurses licensed in New York state who are dealing with substance use issues. Visit the SPAN website for more information or to sign up for one of its upcoming classes. Check out SPAN’s new Compassion Project.

In solidarity,
Pat Kane, RN
Executive Director, NYSNA