National Nurses United

work" laws enacted in 27 states. That's why nurses stood firm, unani- mously passing a resolution protecting our right to collective action. "Our hospital is a small community hospital, the only one in a several-mile radius. It used to be a closed shop, and now there's right to work," said conference attendee Anita Jones, RN, of Kentucky. "People in Kentucky didn't understand what that would mean, when it came down a year ago. It sounds nice: 'right to work.' But it erodes the bargaining unit, it cuts your power." She joined public-sector RNs like NNU board member Martese Chism, RN, of Chicago, who spoke powerfully about how nurses at her facility prepared for Janus by asking members to sign pledge cards, then reauthorization cards. Their solidarity was so strong that even in the wake of Janus, RN union membership in the Cook County Health and Hospitals System stands at nearly 100 percent. Resolution on Securing Nursing Practice, Patient Protection, and Patient Advocacy registered nurses face escalating attacks on the nursing profes- sion by a health care industry that seeks to increase profits by restructuring and deskilling the nursing process, pushing care to the lowest-cost and least-regulated settings, and fighting against critical patient and nurse protections, such as safe staffing ratios. RN lead- ers passed a resolution vowing to fight such attacks and preserve their right to be patient advocates. "This resolution encompasses everything I went into nursing for," said Minnesota Nurses Association board member Jennifer Michael- son, RN. "It is time we continue putting a full-force effort into beat- ing back these forces that want to stifle the nursing profession." Resolution to Promote Racial Equity and Justice and Work to Eradicate Racial Disparities nurses know that racial disparities are still prevalent in access to health services and in health outcomes, and that racial discrim- ination significantly contributes to stress and other adverse fac- tors. Systemic racism can also result in lower incomes and a wealth gap, significant factors in increased rates of medical bank- ruptcies, lack of health insurance, failure to seek timely medical care, malnutrition, and other stress-related health disorders. That's why NNU nurses across the nation came together to pass a resolution leading by example: looking for ways to advance racial justice by first examining the union's own work, conversa- tions, policies, practices, paths to leadership, and organizational and community partnerships. "I want us to be aware that racial disparities are a real thing. We might not even know we are doing it. Erica Garner, whose father was killed by police, died after giving birth. Serena Williams was not believed [when telling medical staff about health issues] after giving birth," said California RN Jewel Jordan. "At my hospital, we are hav- ing classes on racial disparity. It is definitely needed." Resolution on Environmental and Climate Justice "climate change is real. I saw the effects of global warming first- hand in the devastation the Philippines suffered during Typhoon Haiyan," said California Nurses Association board member and RN Response Network volunteer Jane Sandoval, RN, at a convention panel. "Because of global inequality, the world's most vulnerable are also the most severely affected by the ravages of climate change." Because NNU nurses know the scientific basis for global warming is indisputable, and we know how patients suffer as a result of the climate crisis, RNs unanimously passed a resolution to continue advocating for environmental justice, resisting fossil fuel interests, and helping to provide emergency relief for com- munities impacted by extreme weather and environmental injus- tice. We will do this work locally and globally, as a union, in our policy work, and with an eye on "just transition" for workers in the fossil fuel and carbon-intensive sectors. Nurses returned home, energized, educated, and ready to advance the nurses' movement under the banner of these resolu- tions. "If you look around the room, [our diversity] is very inspir- ing," said Gladys Igbo, an ICU RN at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and member of MNA's nursing practice and educa- tion commission. "There is a saying, 'When you face adversity, you realize there is a great strength in diversity.' It is so true. That is what we will need going forward." Kari Jones is an NNU communications specialist. O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 21 BIG TOM PHOTOGRAPHY

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