A strike by city nurses that was set to occur next month may have been averted, according to union officials.
Upward of 10,000 nurses from Montefiore Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital systems were expected to go on strike on April 2 over contract negotiations. But on Friday, the New York State Nurses Association said that the strike has been postponed following "progress in negotiations," including "significant movement in safe staffing as well as the creation of a fund to improve and enforce safe staffing grids by the hiring of additional nurses."
In some cases, nurses have had to care for more than 18 patients each, according to the union.
The New York Hospital Alliance, a multiemployer association representing the hospitals, has argued that rigid staffing ratios would lower patient care and increase costs that could result in potential layoffs.
Negotiations, which have gone on for six months, are set to resume on March 27.
