Striking NYC nurses and hospitals resume negotiations, but still no deal after 11 days

Striking New York City nurses returned to the bargaining table Thursday, the New York State Nurses Association said, but no deal was reached on the 11th day of the strike. 

NYSNA announced Wednesday that going forward it planned to start holding daily negotiations with the major hospital systems. 

"NYSNA nurses at Montefiore, Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, and NewYork-Presbyterian will resume bargaining on Thursday after being urged back to the negotiating table by Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani. Nurses stand ready to bargain to reach fair contracts and end the strike. With continued support of mediators, nurses plan on bargaining daily to settle fair contracts that protect patient and nurse safety. Nurses will continue to picket and strike until tentative agreements are reached with the hospitals," NYSNA said in a statement. 

The 15,000 nurses on strike are demanding better pay, increased staffing, fully funded benefits, and better protections against workplace violence.

Hospitals maintain the nurses' demands are unreasonable.

Patients voice support for nurses at candlelight vigil

A candlelight vigil got underway at NewYork-Presbyterian Children's Hospital in Washington Heights on Wednesday evening.

Nurses, patients and families came together, undeterred by the cold, to share their experiences and demand hospital leaders do the right thing to protect them.

"They deserve to be recognized for the amazing work that they do and the amazing humans they are," mother Maria Vento said. "We are forever grateful to every single nurse out here today."

She added, "They have held us up in our moments of grief and hardship, and celebrated our victories."

"Supporting nurses means protecting the care that families like mine depend on every day," another speaker said.

Fatima Corniel had two emergency C-sections. After one of them, her newborn daughter died, and it was the nurses who she says were a godsend.

"I was able to see them resuscitating my child over and over, day by day, and many days, not taking their lunch breaks," she said.

Corniel, who keeps her daughter's death close to her heart, said she will never forget the warmth from her nurses at a time that felt so dark and cold.

"They show up to the funeral. They stay and keep in touch with me, showing up a year later," she said. "My nurses, thank you. That meant the world to me."

"Everything has been so unorganized"

Alyssa Hernandez shared her recent experiences at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore with her 5-year-old son, Jace, who is battling a rare liver cancer.

"Mom's worst nightmare, right? You get the news and this is something you cant fix," she said. "My world crashed down."  

Hernandez said Jace has had three major surgeries and has been receiving chemo at the hospital since last July, but she says treatment at the Bronx hospital has been traumatizing without his usual nurses.

"The strike has affected our visits. Everything has been so unorganized," Hernandez said. "It's not his usual team that know my son, that know how to treat him, that know how to calm him down. It has just been a nightmare."

She added, "Putting his IV in is a traumatic thing for him and now they don't -- and it's a rushed process where the blood is leaking from his arms."

A hospital spokesperson told CBS News New York due to HIPAA and patient privacy considerations, they cannot comment on specific cases, adding, "Regardless of how long the strike may last, we are continuing to provide the world-class care that our patients deserve."

As for Jace, who thinks chemo is giving him superpowers, he wants his nurses back. He even visited them on the picket line last week. He said he'll continue fighting for them, like he's been fighting cancer.