Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/117858
NEWS BRIEFS higher compensation will serve to attract experienced nurses in the Kansas City-area market. The contract also establishes a professional practice committee (PPC), an elected RN committee comprising nurses who work directly at the bedside, charged with making recommendations to the Chief Nursing Officer on improving patient care.��Also addressed in the contract are patient acuity-based staffing levels ��� RN-to-patient staffing levels and acuity established in policy and enforceable by a newly-negotiated staffing committee. Bedside RNs will serve on the committee with management to review staffing issues in the hospital, ensure compliance with staffing matrices, and to recommend changes. ���Quality patient care is the winner under this contract,��� said Carolyn Lusby, RN, who works in medical/telemetry at the hospital and is a member of the RN bargaining team. ���It was our goal to have the input we need to carry out our professional practice.��� With regard to the staffing committee, preceptor program, and other agreements reached, she said, ���I was glad to have had the chance to help develop contract language that will allow beside RNs to work together with management to improve patient care.��� ���Staff report California RNs Say ���Yes��� to Prop. 30, and ���No, No, No!��� to Prop. 32 On this November's ballot, California nurses are urging a yes vote on Proposition 30, which would raise billions of dollars to save public schools and other safety net programs from devastating cuts by temporarily raising taxes on the state's wealthiest households. At the same time, RNs are strongly opposing Proposition 32, an initiative that would stifle their voices as patient advocates and of all workers by preventing their unions from efficiently collecting dues for political causes. Those restrictions would not apply to corporations and political action committees because of loopholes in how the measure is written. Prop. 32 is sponsored and bankrolled by right-wing business interests, including billionaires such as the Koch brothers and Charles Munger. For more information, please visit www.yeson30andnoon32.com. 6 N AT I O N A L N U R S E Federal Candidates With NNU���s Seal of Approval NATIONAL A s rns know, the November elections are not just about who will win the presidency, but also which Congressmembers will represent our interests on Capitol Hill. As a national RN union, National Nurses United has identified candidates whose backgrounds and track records are in line with our nurses��� values of caring, compassion, and community. These candidates have received NNU���s endorsement, and we encourage you to support them at the polls. Always remember, however, that political activism doesn���t stop with voting; to keep our representatives accountable, we need to keep constant pressure on them to do the right thing with our phone calls, letters, and direct action. PRESIDENT Barack Obama ARIZONA Raul Grijalva (3) CALIFORNIA Jared Huffman (2) Ami Berra (7) Barbara Lee (9) George Miller (11) Pete Stark (15) Julia Brownley (26) Otto Lee (22) 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 Judy Chu (32) Joe Baca (35) Janice Hahn (36) Jerry Tetalman (49) ILLINOIS David Gill (13) MAINE Cynthia Dill (Senate) Chellie Pingree (1) MASSACHUSETTS Elizabeth Warren (Senate) Jim McGovern (3) Joe Kennedy III (4) Stephen Lynch (9) Bill Keating (10) MICHIGAN Gary McDowell (1) MINNESOTA Mike Obermueller (2) Keith Ellison (5) Rick Nolan (8) VERMONT Bernie Sanders (Senate) WISCONSIN Mark Pocan (2) WASHINGTON, D.C. CITY COUNCIL Phil Mendelson Michael Brown SEPTEMBER 2012