Protest of Assignments 

What is a POA?

A Protest of Assignment (POA) is a written document notifying the employer that a nursing assignment is unsafe.

As nurses, we would never turn down an assignment. But as patient advocates, it is our duty to do everything in our power to correct unsafe situations.

Filling out a Protest of Assignment can help protect you from malpractice or discipline in the event of an adverse incident.

But the most important reason to fill out a POA is to advocate for a change in conditions so our patients get better care


 During arbitration sessions, we are finding that the POA details are incredibly valuable.

We need your POA comments to paint the picture of what your unit looked like at the time of filing the POA.

Step 1 is filling out the POAs, step 2 is being a witness during arbitration in order to enforce the safe staffing enforcement language we won!

Examples of pre-filled POAs we’ve created for units based on their needs.

The nurses can simply check off the relevant comments instead of having to write out the same things every shift. We’re happy to work with you.


Please review the sample ED POA to learn more about how to fill out the detailed POAs we need for arbitration cases!

Never filled out a POA before?

Email completed POA to poa@nysna.org

This looks a little different because it’s the custom CHAM ED POA