NANCY HAGANS, RN, BSN, CCRN, President, New York State Nurses Association

NYSNA represents 20,000 New York City nurses from all five boroughs — from the safety net hospitals to the academic medical centers. We are so powerful when we are united. And make no mistake, we are united to win respect for nurses and patients.

We are united by our commitment to care for New York —...

Healthcare workers and patients throughout the country are fighting back against the proposed cuts to Medicaid that Congress is negotiating right now. NYSNA nurses have been doing our part in New York, marching and calling on members of Congress to not vote for any bill that has cuts to Medicaid.

This winter, I traveled with National Nurses United leaders to Costa Rica to meet with union nurse leaders from around the world. We had great conversations with nurses from Angola, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Israel, Italy, Kenya...

Happy new year to all our members and their families! The new year is always a time when I like to reflect on past years and on new beginnings. This year, I am reflecting on where I was approximately two years ago.

Anyone who’s turned on the news or received an email about the upcoming election has heard that there is a lot at stake in the 2024 elections. I learned that firsthand when I traveled to Chicago in August with a delegation of National Nurses United (NNU) nurses to attend the 2024 Democratic National...

NYSNA nurses celebrated Nurses Week beginning May 6 and throughout the entire month. I always feel proud to be a nurse, but this time of year is a good opportunity to reflect even more on what brought me to the profession — and why I’m still here.

Nurses Make the Difference

I’ve always felt called to...

It was great seeing so many NYSNA members pack the halls of the New York Capitol on our March 5 Lobby Day. Almost 600 members met with nearly 150 state legislators to sound the alarm about our priorities and urge them to support nurses and patients in the state budget. 

More support for nurses...

This year’s Convention was one for the record books. I left after two days feeling exhausted and also incredibly proud and inspired by the work we have done together as a union. Being in the same room as NYSNA leaders from every part of the state and National Nurses United (NNU) leaders from every...

Growing up with two daughters, Beyoncé’s music was inescapable in my house. I had a particular song of hers running through my head after seeing the NYC Health+Hospitals (H+H) / Mayorals Bargaining Committee and particularly the women of the Executive Council bring home a contract victory for pay parity and safe staffing. I was feeling so proud and inspired, I was singing, “Who runs the world? Girls!” I’m sure many members had their own girl power or people power anthems running through their heads when they heard the good news.

May marked Labor History Month, and I participated in two events recently that reminded me of the long history of labor struggle in this country and how NYSNA nurses are continuing in that tradition of struggle — and making history in the process.

Remember the Triangle Fire

I spoke at an event to...

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...

As president of NYSNA and a long-time nurse at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, I know intimately the pain of understaffing. I’ve seen the horrible toll of understaffing on patients, nurses, and our communities. Hospitals are not addressing the staffing crisis or the economy. They’re simply...

Nurses not only provide care at the bedside, we also advocate for our patients, communities and profession. We’ve done this via legislative outreach, public actions, negotiations with our employers, and rallies. For months, we have been raising our voices, highlighting the needs of healthcare...

On August 18, I joined hundreds of NYSNA nurses at the Sheraton Hotel in Times Square to kick off our “We Love Nurses” contract campaign.

We’ve Prepared for This

In a few months, 26,000 NYSNA nurses will go to 12 tables across New York and collectively bargain to improve working conditions, including staffing and safety challenges. NYSNA nurses have prepared for this moment, understanding that this is an opportunity to provide better...

On the Importance of Interdependence

If we have learned anything this year, it is that we are all we have. By we, I mean nurses. By we, I’m referring to our union siblings. Without a voice on the job — which only comes when the workplace is unionized — nurses have little hope for thriving now and in...

Last fall, so many workers went on strike, or threatened to strike, that October 2021 was known as striketober. Workers had been increasingly vocal about how demoralizing it was to work hard only to struggle to survive. Facing rising inflation, fallout from a devastating pandemic and unsafe working...

For over a year, health-care professionals have warned of the consequences of our nation’s broken healthcare system. Most recently, NYSNA members Steven Bailey, RN; and Aja Sciortino, RN penned opinion essays for Buffalo News and the Lower Hudson Journal respectively on the issue. The situation is...

March, as you know is Women’s History Month. It’s a time to honor the contributions of women and celebrate those who made it possible for women to thrive. But if we embrace this month’s feel-good moments without examining the challenges women still face, we will have missed the mark.

Women’s History...

It is a new year, but nurses continue to experience the same challenges that have plagued the profession for years. One of the biggest threats to the nursing profession is understaffing. Although nurses were hailed as heroes at the start of the pandemic, today, many are not treated as such.

In fact...

Events Began Nov. 17 and Continued Through Mid-December

Across the country, fellow nurses have spoken out about the challenges of providing care in a pandemic. In painstaking detail, we have described what it was like to work until our souls and physical bodies could take no more. We urged health...

Over the course of the past several months, many media outlets have written stories on nurses’ resistance to vaccine mandates. Although most nurses are vaccinated, many reporters and outlets have been obsessed with the small minority of people who have not been vaccinated.

But there has even been...

Impact Bargaining Followed Vaccine Mandates

After former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former Dr. Howard Zucker, New York State Health Department commissioner, announced statewide vaccine mandates, NYSNA issued demands to bargain and requests for additional information. We also pursued a range of options to...

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many in the nation developed a deeper appreciation for healthcare workers, including nurses. Even those who long held healthcare workers in high regard became more effusive with praise. Despite years of laboring in a host of difficult circumstances, healthcare...

The Hospital Clinical Staffing Committees and Disclosure Act — the landmark staffing law establishing clinical staffing committees in all hospitals in New York state — is an enormous step forward toward implementing safe staffing standards in all facilities across the state. The law is fundamentally...

I would first like to acknowledge the great amount of support received by myself and the newly elected NYSNA Board of Directors last month during the election. I am honored to be your President and strongly believe that each and everyone of us sitting on this new Board will devote ourselves to our...