Nurses hold up their souvenir bags from the 40th annual Federation of Nurses/UFT Professional Issues Conference on Nov. 22 at the Westin in Manhattan.

Aileen Corullo (left) and her daughter Kim Corullo, both nurses at NYU Langone in Brooklyn, settle in as the conference gets underway.

“The voice and power of our union enables us to advocate on behalf of our patients,” said Anne Goldman, the UFT vice president for non-DOE members, in her opening remarks.

The New York City Labor Chorus opened the conference with songs of solidarity.

After his welcoming remarks, UFT President Michael Mulgrew (center) and UFT Special Representative Howard Sandau (right) surprise UFT Vice President for Non-DOE Members Anne Goldman with a tribute plaque marking her tenure as leader of the chapter.

Cora Shillingford (front row, third from right), the retired chapter leader for the Visiting Nurse Service, joins her former colleagues at the annual conference.

Cheryl Hart, a certified diabetes instructor at NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, discusses the latest treatments for adult diabetics in one of the day’s workshops.

Jacqueline Nedd, a school nurse at PS 993@ PS 208 in Bellerose, Queens, admires an ornament for sale at one of the exhibit tables.