Ten days into their strike, nurses say this is about more than a contract.

Nurses have pointed to three big issues: safe staffing levels, healthcare benefits and protections from workplace violence, saying all three directly impact patient care and their safety on the job.

“Day 10. I definitely think it’s a little uncomfortable right now just because we’ve made it very clear what we want, and it kind of feels like we haven’t been heard,” New York-Presbyterian nurse Lelia Khoufaify said.

Still, some nurses say they’re seeing momentum.

New York-Presbyterian confirmed it will return to the bargaining table Thursday.

The nurses’ association says Montefiore and Mount Sinai are also expected back at the table after Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating.

Earlier in the day, Mamdani said he’s looking forward to a resolution.

“I’m tired of speaking to a working person and asking them where they live in New York City and it’s a state nearby because they can’t afford to live here,” he said.

“I am hopeful. I am cautiously optimistic. It’s been a long, arduous journey with no end in sight almost,” New York-Presbyterian nurse Emmerson Coronel said.

On the picket line Wednesday night, nurses said what’s keeping them going is unity and a belief that this fight is bigger than any one hospital.

“This moment is different because there’s a unity in this at NYSNA that has surpassed anything that we have ever seen before,” New York-Presbyterian nurse Gigi Hinton said.

Hospital systems say they want nurses back at work, but blame the union for the stalemate.

Montefiore said it cannot make progress unless the union retreats from what it has described as “reckless and dangerous $3.6 billion demands.” Mount Sinai’s chief executive officer told staff that a near-term agreement is unlikely.

The nurses’ association says nurses stand ready to bargain, even daily, with the support of mediators, but until tentative agreements are reached, the picket line will continue.

“We’re willing to stay outside, however long it takes,” Hinton said.