May 10, 2019
As part of National Nurses Week, NYC Health + Hospitals today announced the system’s first official nurse recruitment campaign to help fill nurse positions and expand access to community-based primary care across the five boroughs. The new recruitment campaign, Nurses4NYC, uses the tag line “Heal the City. Build a Career” to appeal to nurses devoted to the public hospital system’s mission: to extend equally to all New Yorkers, regardless of their ability to pay, comprehensive health services of the highest quality in an atmosphere of humane care, dignity, and respect. The targeted recruitment of nurses comes as NYC Health + Hospitals expands care management and ambulatory care and transforms its system to better serve New Yorkers. Overall, the recruitment effort will benefit the health systems patient population, and it contributes to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s initiative to guarantee health care for all New Yorkers.
The Nurse4NYC campaign focuses on four high need specialty areas where nurses are needed the most: Emergency Room/Trauma; Ambulatory Care; Home Care; and Correctional Health Services/Behavioral Health. The campaign will be supported by social media advertising on Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Compelling mini-documentary videos on three NYC Health + Hospitals nurses will be promoted on the health system’s website, social media accounts, and used at recruitment events to showcase the diverse faces of the more than 9,000 members of the nursing staff. Further, NYC Health + Hospitals human resources will be reaching out to nursing school and recruiting at nursing fairs. Interested applicants can send their resumes directly via email to nurses4nyc@nychhc.org.
“As we celebrate nurses and the nursing profession during National Nurses Week, we launch Nurses4NYC campaign to recruit the next generation of dedicated and committed men and women who will care for our patients,” said Mitchell Katz, MD, president and chief executive officer of NYC Health + Hospitals. “We recently hired more than 340 new nurses. Our transformation as a health system demands that we invest in nurses and doctors to meet the future needs of our primary care focus. Nurses4NYC is a vibrant campaign that will attract those drawn to our mission of caring for one and all.”
“I am proud of the thousands of nurses who come to our facilities every day to serve New Yorkers in need,” said Natalia Cineas, DNP, RN, MS, as Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive. “I joined NYC Health + Hospitals recently, because I believe in its mission to turn no one away and offer high-quality care equally to all New Yorkers. This is also a place where a young nurse can start and grow their career. The Nurses4NYC shares all these stories – we hope it encourages nurses to consider our opportunities and consider working for the best public hospital system in the world.”
“This is an important initiative,” said Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard N. Gottfried. “Adequate staffing is critical to quality of care. The Nurses4NYC campaign takes advantage of a variety of programs – from residencies to loan forgiveness – to ensure that facilities are well-staffed and that nurses are respected, well-trained, and able to advance up the career ladder.”
The Nurses4NYC campaign includes a new website, nurses4nyc.org, which features compelling mini-documentary videos of 3 nurses: Jasmine Pascual, a Pediatric Nurse in the Lower East Side; Shameer Ammerullah, an Emergency Room nurse from the Bronx; and Jennifer Jemmott, a Home Care Nurse based in Brooklyn. The website features pictures of all three, including Dania Codada, a Correctional Health Services nurse on Rikers Island. Their personal stories underscore the dedication of the nursing staff and leadership opportunities available to nurses in the system.
“From day one that I stepped into this ER, I always feel the next day I have to do more, I have to give more, and twenty years later, I’m still here,” said Jacobi ED nurse Shameer Ammerullah.
“The Lower East Side is my home. This is where I grew up,” said Jasmine Pascual, a pediatric nurse at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Gouverneur. “It meant a lot to come back and be able to help the community out.”
Currently, there are more than 9,600 full and part time nurses in the NYC Health + Hospital system. The public health system has an array of benefits, including a pension. Further, new nurses can take advantage of the Nurse Residency Program, loan forgiveness and scholarship programs through NYC Health + Hospitals:
Nurse Residency Program
The residency program provided newly-hired, first-time nurses with on-the-job training that focuses on topics including ethics, decision making, clinical leadership, and the incorporation of research-based evidence into practice. The program also provides new nurses with support and mentorship proven to enhance nurse satisfaction, performance, and retention.
NURSE Corps
For accepted applicants, NURSE Corps pays for 60 percent of unpaid nursing education debt over two years, with an option to extend to a third year for an additional 25 percent of the original balance. In exchange, applicants commit to two years at an eligible facility experiencing a critical shortage of nurses.
National Health Services Corp (for Nurse Practitioners)
The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program (LRP) offers primary care medical, dental, and mental and behavioral health care providers (including Nurse Practitioners) the opportunity to have their student loans repaid in exchange for providing health care in eligible facilities with limited access to care.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)
The federal government provides student loan forgiveness through its Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) to all qualifying public service employees. Your employment at NYC Health + Hospitals may allow you to take advantage of this program if you meet the program’s requirements.