With contracts for nurses at 12 private hospitals set to expire on the last day of 2025, members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) have organized citywide events and rallies over the past two weeks to spotlight the vital role nurses play in caring for New Yorkers.
More than 20,000 nurses are represented by NYSNA, and they have been drawing attention to the ongoing staffing shortages at city hospitals, workplace safety concerns, and the need for increased funding for healthcare infrastructure.
On November 12, more than 200 NYSNA members gathered on the steps of City Hall before participating in a City Council “Committee on Hospitals” hearing. During the committee session, nurses detailed the working conditions and staffing challenges they face daily.
Dr. Natalia Cineas, chief nursing officer and co-chair of the Equity and Access Council for NYC Health + Hospitals, spoke about the progress public hospitals have made in nurse recruitment and retention despite industry-wide challenges. “Our team of about 9,600 nurses is at the core of our mission to provide care to all New Yorkers,” she stated.
Cineas reported a nurse turnover rate of 10.3% for 2025 — significantly less than the national average of 16.4% and a major decrease from 46% in 2019. That’s an improvement that has led to major cost savings, she said, which have been reinvested into workforce development and patient care initiatives.
However, NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, who has also been a nurse at Montefiore Medical Center for the past 30 years, countered that, “Every day, nurses battle to provide quality patient care against the Trump administration’s attacks on our most vulnerable patients and healthcare funding.”
Hagans said she was concerned about upcoming federal Medicaid and Affordable Care Act funding cuts, which could reduce hospital funding and increase the number of uninsured New Yorkers. She also warned that hospitals, particularly safety-net facilities, may attempt to roll back recent staffing gains and benefits as a way to cope. “My hospital’s administrators want to reduce nurse staffing, cancel shifts at will, and implement changes that will harm nurse retention and benefits — the very gains that helped us recover staffing levels after COVID-19 and manage retiree health costs,” ” she said.
Cineas reported that NYC Health + Hospitals hired more than 3,400 nurses in 2024, which helped replace temporary staff and saved more than $150 million on recruitment costs. Programs like NURSES4NYC, nurse residency and fellowship initiatives, and a $400 million fund with CUNY to develop a skilled workforce have allowed Health + Hospitals to expand partnerships with Hunter College and other CUNY campuses, Cineas said. This gives it the ability to offer clinical rotations, employment opportunities, and academic pathways.
Union leaders and some City Council members said they were still concerned about whether staffing levels are adequate to meet the city’s rising demand for healthcare.
NYSNA leaders claim that some hospital administrators are trying to cut nurse staffing, reduce shifts, and limit benefits. Hagans spoke about the November 13 active shooter incident near the main entrance of the Mount Sinai Hospital emergency department, when an armed man stormed inside, threatening to “shoot up” everyone there. He was confronted by New York City police officers, then fatally shot. Mount Sinai nurses, who moments before had their lives threatened by the man, had to try to save his life when he came to the hospital as a trauma patient.
“We are fortunate that the active shooter incident at Mount Sinai last week did not result in greater tragedy — the hospital was unprepared,” Hagans said. “I spent time with nine staff members that day. They were shaken and angry because management did nothing to support them. We know nurses and patients deserve a safe environment.”
Hagans said such security issues, combined with increased use of cost-cutting technologies like virtual nurses and AI systems, could threaten the quality of care nurses are able to provide. She stressed the importance of more state and city investment in safety-net hospitals and greater accountability from wealthier health systems.