Staten Island school nurses (from left) Jo Ann Ferrara of P373 @ 58, and Omehvy George and Melissa Cooper, both of P37, prepare for a day of education, celebration and camaraderie.

VNS nurses catch up with colleagues over lunch during the daylong event.

UFT Vice President Anne Goldman, who heads the Federation of Nurses/UFT, emphasizes that “a strong union voice” is needed in an environment where high-quality patient care and hospitals’ profit motives frequently clash.

Nurses, including Ning Ye (left), a nurse at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn, listen attentively during a professional development workshop.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew thanks nurses for using their collective voice and bargaining power to advocate for both their patients and colleagues.

Nurses improve their emergency skills in one of the professional development workshops offered.

Goldman stands with nurses Bimala Sherpa (left) and Milagros Oliva, both of NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn, where nine unfairly fired nurses won their jobs back with full back pay, in one of the UFT’s biggest arbitration victories.

DaiWai Olson, a nurse and professor at University of Texas Southwestern, delivers an engaging keynote address on confusion, delirium and dementia.

Nurses enjoy a festive luncheon between workshops.

Gathering for a celebratory photo are NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn nurses, who collectively have filed thousands of grievances to force the hospital to comply with the union contract and a 2021 state law establishing safe staff-patient ratios.