Nurses walked through the doors of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital together for the first time in more than a month Thursday, after spending 41 days on the picket line striking in freezing temperatures and snow.

The more than 4,000 nurses who were on strike voted overwhelmingly by 93% to ratify their new contract this past weekend. 

The New York State Nurses Association said provisions include raises topping 12% over three years, staffing improvements and, for the first time, safeguards on the use of artificial intelligence.

“I'm very excited. I'm very relieved,” nurse Colette Dolan said. “It was a long 41 days, but I'm very, very proud of all of us with how hard we fought for our patients, and we advocated for ourselves.”

“The whole strike was for the patient and staffing, you know. So I feel that we had great wins, in staffing and staffing enforcement," nurse Jiver Grewal added. “Was it a perfect contract? No, there's no such thing as a perfect contract. Both sides got something. I think we, as caregivers, as nurses, want the best.”

The strike marked the longest and largest nurses strike in the city’s history.

Nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai walked off the job on Jan. 12, the same day as NewYork-Presbyterian nurses, but were able to reach deals with their respective hospital systems earlier in the month.

The nurses union president, Nancy Hagans, issued a statement ahead of nurses’ return to NewYork-Presbyterian, saying: “The city’s largest nurse strike helped nurses secure contracts that protect patients with safe staffing standards, secures our health benefits, which greedy employers wanted to take away, and creates safer hospitals. After 41 days, nurses not only improved care, they set an example for the rest of the labor movement.”

During the strike, nurse Beth Loudin said there “were definitely moments of emotional turmoil.” 

“People going to the next week and being like, oh, wow, the boss isn't coming to the table. Or the boss isn't moving. And just having to sit with that, and work through it,” Loudin said. “The only way you can do that is with each other, and in communities."

Over the weekend, after the union ratified the contract, NewYork-Presbyterian released a statement saying the new contract “reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play as part of our exceptional care teams."

Nurses NY1 spoke with say it’s going to take a few days to sort through administrative tasks to get back to normal.

But that is what they are looking forward to — the return to normalcy.