Nurses went on strike outside two New York hospitals: the Montefiore Medical Center and Mount Sinai Hospital.

   In total, about 7,000 nurses were on strike on Monday. Patients were expected to see staffing issues and interruptions in care emergency room visits and the Labor and delivery units due to the walk-outs. According to Ap News, nurses attempted negotiations about pay and staffing levels over the weekend, but a compromise was not made. Warren Urquhart, a nurse in transplant and oncology, was a part of the strike.

   “We were heroes only two years ago, we were on the front lines of the city when everything came to a stop,” Urquart said. “And now we need to come to a stop so they can understand how much we mean to this hospital and to these patients.” 

   The nurses union, or the New York State Nursing Association urged the nurses to strike, since the hospitals saw an overwhelming number of patients, and not enough nurses to care for them. According to AP News, the nurses are on strike because they care about their patients.  Ashley Woodside, a nurse working at a nearby hospital, also participated in the strikes. 

   “We love our job,” Woodside said. “We want to take care of our patients. But we just want to do it safely and in a humane way, where we feel appreciated.”  

   According to AP News, Woodside has been a nurse for 8 years and said her 12-hour operating room shifts sometimes turn into 14-hour shifts, due to understaffing problems.