Jacqueline Juele-Schuster has taken over as president of the Philippine Nurses Association of New York, succeeding Laarni Florencio at the organization’s 29th biennial induction and awards gala in the Bronx.
The handoff at Marina del Rey gives Juele-Schuster a two-year term leading a group whose work reaches beyond professional events. PNA New York advocates for Filipino American nurses on workplace and patient-care issues, helps nurses develop their careers and organizes health outreach in local communities. Founded in 1929, it has served generations of nurses making their way in New York’s health care system.
Juele-Schuster is a nurse practitioner at NYC Health + Hospitals/Carter. Her credentials include certification in wound and ostomy care, specialties involving the treatment of difficult-to-heal wounds and care for patients who have undergone procedures that change how bodily waste leaves the body. She received a DAISY Foundation Health Equity Award at the public hospital system’s 2022 Nursing Excellence Awards.
The award recognizes nurses who go beyond routine care for patients and families facing social or economic disadvantages, according to NYC Health + Hospitals. It offers a glimpse of the clinical work Juele-Schuster brings to a role that also calls for organizing, advocacy and attention to the needs of fellow nurses.
The leadership change follows Florencio’s 2024-26 term. Juele-Schuster served as president-elect before assuming the presidency, according to the Philippine Nurses Association of America’s chapter directory. At the gala, PNA New York inducted a new executive board and board of directors for the 2026-28 term.
For the organization, one continuing challenge is how to support nurses educated outside the United States as they navigate licensure, employment and advancement. Those concerns are part of PNA New York’s advocacy, alongside policy debates over nursing practice, workplace conditions and patient care. The association also offers continuing education, leadership development and mentorship to members and nonmembers.
Its work extends into neighborhoods through health education and wellness activities. The association says it holds health fairs that connect residents with screenings and information about preventive care, while giving nurses opportunities to serve outside their workplaces. During the 2024-26 term, its website reported 15 community events and seven professional education activities.
PNA New York said members attended the Bronx gala despite difficult weather. The gathering marked the end of Florencio’s term and the start of Juele-Schuster’s, with a new group of officers and directors joining her in leadership.
For Juele-Schuster, the shift is from caring for patients at Carter to also helping set the direction of a professional organization. The issues awaiting its new leadership — nurses’ working lives, their opportunities to grow and the care available to the communities they serve — give the ceremonial handoff a practical weight.
