There is Strength in Solidarity! Convention 2025 Recap

Our 2025 NYSNA Convention is in the books! This year was the largest Convention in NYSNA history, with more than 1,000 delegates, member observers, and guests in attendance.  

Over the course of two days, NYSNA members furthered our nursing practice and advocacy skills by attending workshops, helped to determine the direction of our union by participating in the voting body, and connected with our union siblings from across New York state. Without a doubt, we lived up to this year’s Convention theme—Strength in Solidarity: Uniting for Our Patients, Practice, and Union.  

Convention attendees were also treated to two wonderful keynote presentations. At lunch, NYSNA members listened to a panel discussion on the impact of federal cuts to healthcare funding, featuring the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Michael Kinnucun, Juanita Lewis, Executive Director of Community Voices Heard, and Jen Metzger, the Ulster County Executive. During dinner, we were joined by NNU Officer and VA Nurse Ketsia Saint-Fort and Mario Cilento, President of the New York State AFL-CIO, a long-time and staunch NYSNA ally. Ketsia gave a powerful speech about the cuts to VA funding, and Mario spoke on the critical need for union members to stand together, become politically active, and elect officials that will genuinely champion the interests of working people across America.  

Pres. Cilento couldn’t be more right. When our rights are under attack, the labor movement and healthcare workers must fight back. As NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, BSN, RN, CCRN, said in opening this year’s Convention, “Nurses and healthcare workers will need to stick together and build our solidarity within the labor movement to hold our ground. We’ll need to build our solidarity and strength to win a healthcare system that we ALL deserve. We must act. We must keep flexing our power—in our facilities and on the local, state and national level!”

Convention delegates took the first step in building our solidarity and preparing to take action by debating and voting on proposed resolutions to guide the direction and priorities of our union in the coming year. Check out the list of approved resolutions here!

If you missed out on Convention, check out our highlights on NYSNA’s Facebook and Instagram pages and check out this slideshow of amazing red carpet photos! 

Save the date for next year's NYSNA Convention: October 26-27, 2026 at the New York Hilton Midtown!