“You have different skills, certification and education, but you all have the ability to stand up in the middle of chaos — no matter how crazy it gets — and say, ‘This person matters,’” Anne Goldman, the head of the Federation of Nurses/UFT and the UFT vice president for non-DOE members, told the nurses attending the union’s sixth annual Nurse Recognition Day on April 30.

Members of the Federation of Nurses/UFT at Staten Island University Hospital South on March 29 overwhelmingly ratified a contract that includes their top priorities: an increased nurse-to-patient ratio and preservation of their UFT Healthcare Chapter Benefit Fund benefits.

Licensed practical nurses at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York — members of the Federation of Nurses/UFT — unanimously ratified a two-year contract on Jan. 30 that provides for the largest salary increase in the history of the chapter.

Our goal is to provide excellent care and help patients achieve their optimum level of functioning. To reach that goal, we are committed to achieving staffing levels in hospitals that provide for safe patient care.

“How are we going to translate today’s learning and our collective power into making a difference on behalf of the people we serve?” asked Anne Goldman, the UFT’s vice president for non-DOE members, at the 2018 Professional Issues Conference of the Federation of Nurses/UFT on Nov. 16.

A Federation of Nurses/UFT member — bolstered by colleagues and other union members gathered in solidarity — stood up in state Supreme Court on Staten Island on Aug. 14 and bravely described how an assault by a patient has changed her life.