Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1068650
NATIONAL NURSE,™ (USPS publication permit number 0807-560/ISSN 2153-0386 print/ISSN 2153-0394 online) The Voice of National Nurses United, October-Novem- ber-December 2018 (Volume 114/5) is pub- lished by National Nurses United, 155 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA 94612-2908. It provides news of or ganizational activities and reports on developments of concern to all registered nurses across the nation. It also carries general coverage and commen - tary on matters of nursing practice, commu- nity and public health, and healthcare policy. It is published five times per year, with combined issues in January-February, March-April, May-June, July-August-Sep- tember, and October-November-December. Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, California. POSTMASTER: send address changes to National Nurse, ™ 155 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA 94612-2908. To send a media release or announce- ment, fax (510) 663-0629. National Nurse™ is carried on the NNU website at www.nationalnursesunited.org. For permission to reprint articles, write to Editorial Office. To subscribe, send $40 ($45 foreign) to Subscription Department. Please contact us with your story ideas They can be about practice or manage- ment trends you've observed, or simply something new you've encountered in the profession. They can be about one nurse, unit, or hospital, or about the wider landscape of healthcare policy from an RN's perspective. They can be humorous, or a matter of life and death. If you're a writer and would like to contribute an article, please let us know. You can reach us at nationalnurse@nationalnursesunited.org EXECUTIVE EDITOR Bonnie Castillo, RN EDITOR Lucia Hwang GRAPHIC DESIGN Jonathan Wieder COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Sarah Cecile CONTRIBUTORS Barb Brady, Gerard Brogan, RN PHOTOGRAPHY Jaclyn Higgs, Tad Keyes, Sarah Maple, Choppy Oshiro not gonna lie. 2018 was a hard year. We all witnessed terrible, hurtful events, such as the shocking separation of migrant families at the border, the mass shooting at Stone- man Douglas High School, the Janus Supreme Court deci- sion gutting public-sector unions, and climate change- induced disasters such as Hurricane Michael and the dead- ly Camp Fire in Northern California. Yet, even in the face of these challenges, National Nurses United RNs are forging ahead and making gains. We con- tinued to organize new members, win first contracts, nego- tiate even better agreements, elect like-minded representatives, and, all the while, advocate for ourselves, our patients, our society, and our planet. In times like these, it is even more important to share and remember that our collective action does make a huge difference, and that if we organize, we can prevail. You can read about many of our recent victories in this issue, and we hope they provide a bright light for your activism. Speaking of organizing, we wanted to showcase a story in these pages. You always want better for your children than you had, right? That's one of the main reasons com- pelling RN Julie Laslett, who has worked for more than 30 years at Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) in Baltimore, Md., one of the most prestigious medical institutions in the country, to overcome some of her initial reluctance to sup- port unionizing efforts there after her son Alex, who also works there as a registered nurse, asked her to join the organizing drive. You can read all about this mother-son organizing team and the JHH nurses' courageous campaign to improve nursing and patient care standards in this issue of the magazine. As many of our members can attest, often the reality of RN working and patient care conditions falls far short of the reputation many facilities enjoy—particu- larly the famous academic and teaching hospitals. Those employers tend to be the biggest hypocrites as far as mar- keting their elite, do-gooder status while treating their workforce as poorly as the greediest, for-profit chains! Please support the Johns Hopkins nurses' campaign by liking their Facebook page at Facebook.com/ HopkinsNursesUnited. One of the CE classes our fabulous education depart- ment is teaching right now is titled "The Science of Joy and Solidarity," and explores how research shows that feeling common purpose and solidarity through collective action has immediate and long-term health, social, and economic payoffs. This is a profound thought we hope every single NNU member will take to heart in the coming new year. Together, we can heal America and much, much more. Deborah Burger, RN | Jean Ross, RN | Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, RN National Nurses United Copresidents Letter from the NNU presidents Stay connected FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/NationalNurses TWITTER: @RNmagazine, @NationalNurses FLICKR: www.flickr.com/nationalnursesunited VIMEO: www.vimeo.com/NationalNursesUnited DIGITAL MAGAZINE: NationalNurseMagazine.org