Dear Friend,

NYSNA-Endorsed Champions Win Across the State

Across the state, NYSNA-endorsed pro-labor candidates won big. NYSNA and our labor allies showed that we are united at the ballot box for local change. In New York City, labor showed up strong and helped elect Zohran Kwame Mamdani as mayor. His historic campaign hit record numbers in voter engagement and turnout, centering the affordability crisis and the needs of real New Yorkers. In New York City, we also helped elect Shirley Aldebol and Kayla Santosuosso for City Council. On Long Island, we helped elect Rebecca Sanin and Cynthia Nunez for County Legislature, and upstate we helped elect Dorcey Applyrs for Albany mayor, Sean Ryan for Buffalo mayor and Michael Cashman for Assembly in the North Country. We also helped elect Jenn Puja for Westchester County and Yvette Valdes Smith for Hudson Valley County Legislature. These are just some of the few critical wins that will help nurses fight for patients and our communities!

Through NYSNA’s get out the vote work, we knocked on nearly 20,000 doors and made 50,000 live phone calls to labor households around the state, encouraging union members to vote in local elections. NYSNA members and staff had thousands of conversations with other union members and their families about the importance of voting and supporting pro-worker candidates. Your hard work paid off to help elect pro-worker candidates throughout the state. Our work is not over. Let’s continue to organize and build political power for nurses and all working people throughout New York!

RSVP: Private Sector November Week of Action

Next week, NYSNA nurses at private sector hospitals are kicking off another strong week of action. Mount Sinai Morningside/West, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Maimonides, Mount Sinai Hospital and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center nurses are all gathering across the city alongside elected officials and community allies to demand hospitals do their part to protect healthcare! They’re demanding fair contracts that respect patients, nurses and our communities. To show your support, join us at one of the actions and RSVP here!

• Nov. 12, Mount Sinai West at 11:30 a.m., 1000 10th Ave., New York

• Nov. 12, The Brooklyn Hospital Center at 11:30 a.m., 121 DeKalb Ave., Brooklyn

• Nov. 13, Mount Sinai Main at 11:30 a.m., 1425 Madison Ave., New York

• Nov. 13, Maimonides Medical Center at 11:30 a.m., 4802 10th Ave., Brooklyn

• Nov. 14, Wyckoff at 11:30 a.m., 374 Stockholm St., Brooklyn

Albany Med Nurses Win Grievance in Pediatric Emergency Department!

This week, NYSNA nurses at Albany Medical Center continued their string of victories in 2025 by winning a grievance in the pediatric emergency department (ED)! At Albany Med, the pediatric ED is a standalone unit, which means nurses within the unit are not required to float to other units in the hospital, according to their contract. Despite this, management has been making them float to the adult ED. After ratifying a historic new contract earlier this year, nurses raised this issue with management, who told them to keep floating when instructed to.

After attempting to escalate the grievance and being ignored for months, nurses brought it to the human resources department with the support of their NYSNA union representative. Finally, Albany Med was forced to admit that it had been violating the contract by forcing nurses to float and needed to change its practices to adhere to the contract.

Congratulations, Albany Med nurses! This year, you fought for and won the strong union contract that capital region nurses and patients deserve, and now you’re taking charge, flexing your union power and enforcing that contract when it matters the most. You continue to show that when nurses fight, we win!

Bargaining Kicks Off at WMC HealthAlliance! 

Nurses packed the room to show solidarity with the negotiating committee and support for a comprehensive health and safety/workplace violence proposal. Recently, there was a dramatic Code Silver event in the Westchester Medical Center HealthAlliance Hospital emergency department, which only highlighted the daily safety concerns that nurses experience throughout the hospital. Nurses provided testimony of incidents that have taken place over the past few weeks since the Code Silver and demanded action to ensure the safety of both patients and staff. 

CVPH Gets in the Halloween Spirit! 

NYSNA members from the University of Vermont-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital got into the Halloween spirit for the fifth year in a row! NYSNA members gathered together and handed out treats to nearly 1,000 trick-or-treaters. Members were proud to let the community know that providing quality care close to home is always a treat for healthcare professionals.

NYSNA First Vice President Judith Cutchin Helps Shape Legislative Agenda to Address Maternal Mortality 

On Oct. 29, the New York City Council passed a package of legislation to confront the ongoing maternal mortality crisis and advance policy solutions that emerged from the Council’s Maternal Health Steering Committee! In addition to the legislative package, the Committee also released a report that outlines their findings, the result of nearly a year of speaking to directly impacted New Yorkers, research, and advocacy to improve maternal health outcomes.

As a steering committee member, NYSNA’s First Vice President Dr. Judith Cutchin, DNP, RN, worked closely with the Council and allies to bring needed change to this crisis. This report marks a critical step towards addressing the deeply entrenched, systemic inequities that continue to unnecessarily claim the lives of mothers.

NYSNA Treasurer Margaret Franks Wins Daisy Award

NYSNA Treasurer Margaret Franks, RN, BSN, recently received the prestigious Daisy Award, which honors extraordinary nurses for their compassion and dedication. Franks, a medical-surgical nurse at Northwell/Vassar Brothers Medical Center, is not only devoted to her patients but also deeply involved in her community, tirelessly advocating for the rights of all residents. Congratulations to Margaret on this well-deserved recognition of her outstanding commitment and service. 

Bargaining Heats up on Long Island! 

During a Syosset Hospital Bargaining session on Nov. 4th Northwell Health tried to deny nurse participation on Zoom in an attempt to intimidate nurses and exclude them from bargaining. Syosset Hospital nurses rose to the occasion, got off Zoom, and came to the hotel to watch in person! The nurses spoke out on access to their negotiations, their commitment to the union, and their desire to make gains on pay and patient care issues.

At Plainview Hospital, nurses had their fourth bargaining session, where Northwell also tried to intimate nurses. The hospital continued to insist that bargaining not take place at the hospital and tried to deter nurses. But nurses were not deterred, They came out to the last bargaining session in force and are coming ready to bargain next week to beat back bad proposals from Northwell bosses.

Staten Island University Hospital Nurses Gather for All-Day Leader Training 

Members from Staten Island University Hospital gathered for an all-day member leader training and learned about worker rights and how to use their representational rights under the law and their contracts to improve their working conditions. We also covered how to organize for collective advocacy and how to engage coworkers to build collective strength. For more information about the program, please visit the Labor Education webpage and contact [email protected] to schedule a training in your facility.

Fall 2025 Labor Ed Trainings Open for Registration

NYSNA’s Labor Education Department trains members on how to become engaged union members and union leaders. Sign up for Labor Education’s standard trainings that include learning about NYSNA and organized labor, how to turn out your co-workers to meetings and events, how to win issues in your unit, how to take control of meetings with management and more. Check out Labor Education’s updated fall schedule here. We hope to see you at our next workshop, “Winning an Issue on Your Unit through a Campaign of Escalating Actions,” on Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 9:30-11:00 a.m.

Additionally, bargaining trainings on how to become an effective Contract Action Team member, mobilizing members for the contract fight and rounding are available and can be tailored to your facility. Email [email protected] directly if you have questions or to schedule a workshop in your facility.

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.

NYSNA Leaders Press Nurse Agenda at Somos

This week, NYSNA leaders gathered with elected officials, including Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul, to share our priorities and discuss how to win healthcare and worker justice. Nurses attended workshops and solidarity events with other unions and elected officials, including some we just helped elect, like New York City Council Members Shirley Aldebol and Julie Won. Nurses also provided community service support at a local school with building trades unions and other allies. We look forward to connecting more with these leaders and strategizing about how to make our legislative priorities a reality!

Sign Up for New NNU Courses Free for NYSNA Members

NNU is offering FREE virtual courses for NYSNA members. New fall 2025/winter 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.”

Fall/winter offerings:

• “Social Justice and Patient Advocacy (2 hours)”

• “Planet Over Profits: The Health Impacts of Environmental Crisis & What Nurses Can Do”

• “Partnering With Our Patients: Nurses, Worker Power, and Health Justice (2 hours)”

• “How Financialization Is Reshaping the Hospital Industry: What Nurses Need to Know”

• “The Biology of Inequality: The Health Impacts of Social Environments”

• “Investigating Long Covid and Its Impacts on Patient and Nurse Health”

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

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].

NEW: 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 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.

2025 Nurse Education and Practice Workshops

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 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!

Based on our members’ demands, NEP has also added the following workshop to our calendar in response to the learning needs assessment survey:

• “Nursing Team Concepts — Communication, Delegation and Supervision,” Dec. 2

Seminar at Sea 2026

Last year, NYSNA nurses sailed to Spain and Portugal while learning about resilience, emotional intelligence and how they connect to nursing. Next year, join NYSNA on an unforgettable weeklong cruise to China, South Korea and Japan set to sail in April 2026! This is an opportunity to visit beautiful countries while obtaining nursing continuing education credits and learning about the relevant and important topic of artificial intelligence in nursing practice and nursing education. Check out the informational flyer to learn about this unique and informative educational program.  

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.

Factsheet: Preparing for Wildfire Smoke

Smoke from wildfires has become a common feature in New York state and the surrounding area. Wildfire smoke is far more dangerous to human health than regular pollution and presents complex problems for medical facilities. Check out the latest NYSNA Factsheet from NYSNA’s Occupational Health and Safety team to learn more about how healthcare facilities can prepare for wildfire smoke conditions to keep their patients and staff safe.

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 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.

Learn about the benefits and resources that the UAP offers here. Check out the November 2025 newsletter here on the power of gratitude.

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.

Wellness Wednesdays: As part of its mission to promote a healthy lifestyle, SPAN is also offering a Self-Care Series that includes free Wellness Wednesday courses. Check out the full calendar of Wellness Wednesday offerings here.

In solidarity,
Pat Kane, RN
Executive Director, NYSNA