NYSNA Statement in Response to Workplace Violence Incident at Mount Sinai South Nassau
For Immediate Release: Monday, Nov. 9, 2026
Contact: Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489
NYSNA Statement in Response to Workplace Violence Incident at Mount Sinai South Nassau
NYSNA Attempted Health and Safety Inspection Today
Nurses Call for Mount Sinai to Settle a Fair Contract with Strong Workplace Violence Protections
Oceanside, N.Y. – Last Monday evening, a patient with a documented history of assaulting hospital staff attacked and injured six staff members, including two NYSNA nurses. The patient faces several criminal charges. One week later, NYSNA’s Health and Safety representative gathered with nurses at noon to conduct a safety inspection of the hospital. Although the NYSNA representative has a right to access the facility, she was turned away.
In response, NYSNA released this statement:
The Mount Sinai South Nassau NYSNA Nurses Executive Committee said: “Mount Sinai South Nassau must focus on workplace violence prevention for its frontline staff, who too often bear the brunt of verbal and physical abuse. This tragedy should have been prevented. Nurses are fighting for a fair contract with strong protections, including improved security screening and response time, hospital safety committees, safe staffing to prevent long wait times and escalation of violence, and time off to deal with legal and medical issues that arise in the wake of violence and injury. We need to improve nurse and patient safety now!”
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said: “Assaulting a nurse is a shame—and a crime. Mount Sinai South Nassau must do more to protect nurses from violence. Our hospitals should be places of safety and healing; it’s past time that hospital executives work with their nurses to settle a fair contract that improves conditions and protections for our members—and the communities we care for.”
###
The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 45,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country's largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.