POTSDAM — Members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) at Canton-Potsdam Hospital will participate in an informational picket from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday outside of the hospital at 50 Leroy St.

After numerous negotiation sessions, the picket is being held in an effort to demand a fair contract that includes safe staffing language and affordable health insurance, according to a release from NYSNA.

The release says negotiations have included issues such as:

• Safe staffing – nurses are short staffed while treating patients in nearly all inpatient units.

• Compensation and benefits that make it hard to hire and retain nurses under their current contract, nurses cannot afford the costly family insurance plan. The employer proposed to change health coverage to a plan with high deductibles and monthly premiums.

Other nurses within the St. Lawrence Health System are having similar issues. NYSNA members at Gouverneur Hospital have been in negotiations for over a year and are also facing health insurance increases, the release said.