New York City nurses have been calling all week for an end to what they say are unfair contracts.

Bronx nurse Michelle Honzalez told News 12 she had wanted to be a nurse since she was a kid. However, hospital shortages have made what was once her dream job now a daily struggle.

She’s just one of hundreds of nurses who have been rallying across New York City demanding better wages and better staffing at hospitals like Montefiore and Mount Sinai.

Nurses say staffing was already an issue but that the pandemic made the problem worse, and nurses say patients suffer most.

The American Hospital Association says that 1 in 6 hospitals in the U.S. are critically short of nurses.

Many nurses left bedside care to take better paying, more flexible opportunities like travel nursing or left the field altogether.

Montefiore says they are continuing to negotiate with staff in "good faith as well as exploring new recruitment strategies to reach a fair contract."

The clock is ticking as many nurses say they plan to leave once their contracts end on Dec. 31 if they can’t come to an agreement.