NEW YORK (WABC) -- Registered nurses at three New York City hospital systems have set a strike date for April 2 amid claims that staffing shortages put patients at risk and medical centers have ignored their complaints.Members of the New York State Nurses Association delivered an official 10-day notice of intent to strike Monday at Mount Sinai, Montefiore and New York Presbyterian hospitals.The strike notice affects more than 10,000 nurses at the three hospitals systems, where there are currently contract talks underway. The nurses have reportedly worked without a contract since December, and roughly 30 bargaining sessions since October have so far yielded no progress."Registered nurses are not able to take any breaks," nurse Anthony Ciampa said. "We are doubling up on assignments. If a nurse calls out sick, it capsizes a unit and sends everything into chaos."Watch: Nurses' union announces planned strikeUnion officials say that because hospitals refuse to hire enough bedside caregivers, nurses are forced to care for up to 19 patients at once. And when that happens, they say patients suffer.More than 97 percent of nurses across the three hospital systems voted earlier this month to authorize a strike , calling it a matter of life and death for patients."Oh, I think it's going to wake people up," said Robin Krinsky, with the Nurses Association. "I don't think they thought we had this much power, this much solidarity, but we do. And we're not going anywhere."Nurses said because of staffing shortages, patients are mistreated, nurses are taking care of people they aren't trained to care for, and nurses routinely miss breaks "at an alarming rate."For example, one complaint reported that patients were left on stretchers in hallways with days at a time with no privacy due to lack of staff and space. The complaints also noted that only three on-duty registered nurses have cared for 44 babies in the newborn intensive care unit at a time."The patient doesn't get cleaned up," nurse Cherl Samuel said. "Patients don't get their bell answered. Sometimes we don't have no stats. We don't have no food, and the patient just suffers."The NYC Hospital Alliance released the following statement:----------