NYSNA Update: May 9, 2025
Happy Nurses Week!
NYSNA celebrates Nurses Week and the tireless work, dedication and commitment that NYSNA nurses show patients every day. This week, Nurses Week celebrations kicked off throughout New York, where some elected officials visited nurses to congratulate them on their work. Nurses used the opportunity to remind representatives that workers’ rights and healthcare are currently under attack and that all nurses want for Nurses Week is safe staffing and a fully funded healthcare system so our patients can get the care they deserve! Read AM New York’s coverage of Nurses Week and NYSNA nurses’ fight to advocate for better working conditions. Check out some photos from this week’s celebrations, read this lovely tribute to nursing that NYC Mayorals nurse Patty Tyrell, RN, penned, and check out coverage of a NYSNA nurse from Ellis Hospital who was honored at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, May 7, for Nurse Appreciation Night!
NYSNA Presents at Cornell University on 5 Years Since COVID-19
On Monday, May 5, members of NYSNA’s board of directors attended “The Biopolitics of Global Health After Covid-19: An Interdisciplinary Conference” at Cornell University, where NYSNA First Vice President Judith Cutchin, DNP, RN, was a keynote speaker. Cutchin presented on “COVID-19: A Look Back at the First Five Years from the Frontlines,” reflecting on the immense challenges and groundbreaking victories for nurses in the past five years. She also discussed what nurses, frontline healthcare workers, patients and the community need to defend against COVID-19 and any other emerging public health threat in the current political environment and how nurses are once again on the front lines of fighting against attacks on healthcare and workers’ rights.
Esca van Blarikom, Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell and main organizer of the conference said of NYSNA’s participation, "I cannot overstate what an enormous pleasure it was to have Judith and the other NYSNA board members with us this week. Their energy, stories, team spirit and activism were incredibly inspiring, and Judith's keynote provided us exactly those insights into the experiences of frontline workers that we wanted to learn more about. I cannot thank her, you, and the NYSNA board enough for being so engaged with our event!"
Capital Region Legislators Call on NY DOH to Hold Albany Med Accountable for Staffing Crisis
This week, a coalition of capital region legislators sent a letter to the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) demanding that they take action to resolve the staffing and patient care crisis at Albany Medical Center. This past July, nurses' concerns about staffing levels and substandard patient care at the hospital were validated when the DOH released a staffing deficiency report about Albany Med, citing over 500 violations of New York's safe staffing law. Despite this, no action has yet been taken to hold the leadership of Albany Medical Center accountable.
In the letter, Assemblymember Gabriella Romero, alongside Assemblymembers Bendett, Santabarbara, and Steck, called for greater transparency and accountability at the hospital, and expressed concerns about the safety and quality of care for both patients and staff. “Albany Medical Center has to do better for its staff and for the people of the Capital Region,” said Romero. “I’ve listened to the nurses’ concerns about understaffing, I’ve seen the DOH reports – this is a deeply worrying situation and it needs to be addressed. We’re coming up on a year since the DOH findings and we don’t have any substantive change. It’s long past time to act.” Watch the video Romero recorded in support of nurses.
With this new show of support from elected allies, NYSNA nurses remain hopeful about their fight for the contract both patients and nurses deserve. At their most recent bargaining session, a standing room only crowd of Albany Medical Center nurses peppered management with questions. This show of solidarity from union nurses resulted in management moving off their “last best and final” offer from December. Albany Med nurses are showing that when we fight, we win!