NYC Nurse Says She’s Been ‘Mentally Preparing to Strike Since the Summertime’
By Joe Maniscalco
Tristan Castillo’s job as an Emergency Room nurse is unquestionably more stressful than whatever the heads of Mount Sinai, NewYork-Presbyterian, and Montefiore private hospital chains do all day long. Unlike those lavishly-paid executives, however, Castillo goes to bed at night worrying about making ends meet and if being short-staffed meant the welfare of a patient was put at risk during her last shift.
“Honestly, it causes a lot of anxiety and strife,” the 39-year-old Mount Sinai nurse told Work-Bites this week. “It's very stressful. I mean, we can think critically, but at the same time going home in the back of our heads it’s always, ‘Did we do everything right? Did we get them the medication that we needed to get them on time?’ It's going home with that guilt of not knowing if we served our patients the best way we could during our shifts.”
This is what short-staffing looks like in real life. Those paying attention to the looming strike roughly involving 20,000 nurses at some of the wealthiest private hospitals located throughout New York City and Long Island may hear about how management is attempting to roll back safe-staffing standards—the same safe-staffing standards unionized nurses fought hard to achieve back in 2022. But this is what it actually means to have too few nurses on staff to provide the level of necessary care patients need.
“Not having that safe staffing puts patients’ lives at risk and it compromises us nurses when it comes to our morals and integrity,” Castillo added. “According to best standards and practices we should have only four patients. But we can have up to 10 to 15 patients at different acuity levels. Sometimes, that could be an ICU patient, which means one nurse. But we're also tending to ten other patients. So, it's very dangerous to be understaffed or not having appropriate staff for the patient, especially during winter time [and flu season].”
Members of Castillo’s union—the New York State Nurses Association [NYSNA]— overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike back on Dec. 22. They delivered their 10-day strike notice to the heads of a dozen private hospitals located throughout New York City on Jan. 2—two days after their last three-year contract expired at year’s end. NYSNA members at three Northwell Health hospitals on Long Island also followed suit and voted to authorize a strike.
If NYSNA actually strikes on Monday, Jan. 12, or sometime after, it’ll be purportedly the largest nurses strike in New York City history. But it doesn’t have to happen.
In addition to safe staffing, NYSNA members are also demanding the private hospital bosses guarantee healthcare benefits for frontline nurses. They also want to see new protections against workplace violence—an increasing danger on the job. But the union rescinded its 10-day strike notice at five safety net hospitals in Brooklyn and Staten Island earlier this week, after managers there tentatively agreed to terms.
“Our safety-net hospitals are taking significant steps toward settling fiscally responsible contracts that protect nurses and patients, while rich private hospitals like Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and NewYork-Presbyterian continue to throw away hundreds of millions of dollars to fight against frontline nurses,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said in a statement. “The safety-net hospitals that care for New York City’s most vulnerable patients are doing the right thing by guaranteeing healthcare benefits for nurses and agreeing to stronger safe staffing standards and protections from workplace violence. New York City’s wealthiest hospitals should follow their lead.”
Work-Bites reached out to the heads of the private hospital chains for comment on this story. A spokesperson for NewYork-Presbyterian accused NYSNA of attempting to “disrupt patient care across the city” and that it remains “fully committed to bargaining toward a fair contract that reflects our great respect for our nurses, as well as the challenging realities of today’s health care environment.”
“We have proposed significant wage increases that keep our nurses among the highest paid in the region, enhancements to their already outstanding benefits, and new strategies that demonstrate our shared commitment to safe staffing,” the spokesperson said in an email. “So far, NYSNA hasn’t moved off from its unrealistic demand of nearly 30% wage increases over three years. Collective bargaining requires compromise from both parties in order to reach an agreement.”
The two sides were in talks on Tuesday. Castillo characterized the atmosphere around this latest round of bargaining as much more “intense” than the previous one, however.
“More nurses are rising up because we are [again] fighting for safer patient ratios and patient care,” she told Work-Bites.
“We want safe staffing ratios. We want to work with [management]—but I don’t understand how you can just all of a sudden turn around and hire travel nurses for eight to ten grand a week—and you can’t hire more staff nurses? They’re hiring hundreds of travel nurses just for one hospital. To me that’s insane.”
With more than $1.6 billion in cash or cash equivalents on hand, NYSNA argues that NeYork-Presbyterian, Montefiore, and Mount Sinai are more than capable of meeting nurses’ demands for safe staffing and basic workplace protections—but are instead choosing to spend immense sums of money fighting them and hiring temporary workers.
And that makes Castillo especially angry.
“I'm angry because we're pushing for better patient care,” she said. “We want safe staffing ratios. We want to work with [management]—but I don't understand how you can just all of a sudden turn around and hire travel nurses for eight to ten grand a week—and you can't hire more staff nurses? They’re hiring hundreds of travel nurses just for one hospital. To me that’s insane.”
1199SEIU is the largest healthcare union in country. Union President Yvonne Armstrong issued a statement this week expressing support for NYSNA members working “side-by-side” with the members of her union.
“At this time of unprecedented cuts to Medicaid and other healthcare programs by Republican leaders in Washington, D.C., healthcare workers should not bear the brunt of funding shortfalls,” Armstrong said. “More than ever, we need stability in our healthcare system, which means investing in the type of good healthcare jobs which are fundamental to the wellbeing of caregivers and the communities they serve.”
Castillo said she’s been mentally preparing to strike since the summertime.
“We're standing on patient safety and better patient care,” she said. “But if we don't stand our ground and push for this change, then everything is going to stay the same and nothing's ever going to change.”
Work-Bites received a joint statement from NewYork-Presbyterian, Montefiore, and Mount Sinai late Wednesday afternoon before going to press further accusing NYSNA of being “reckless” and “abandoning patients.”
“A strike will pose challenges for sure, but our institutions will do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions to the delivery of the safe, high-quality care we are known for,” the hospitals said. “We ask NYSNA leadership to reconsider their decision to strike. But if a strike occurs, we are ready to safely care for our patients whatever the duration.”