National Nurses United

NATIONAL NURSE,™ (USPS publication permit number 0807-560/ISSN 2153- 0386 print/ISSN 2153-0394 online) The Voice of National Nurses United, October- November-December 2020 (Volume 116/4) is published 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 gen- eral coverage and commen tary on matters of nursing practice, community and public health, and health care policy. It is pub- lished quarterly, with combined issues in January-February-March (winter), April- May-June (spring), July-August- September (summer), and October- November-December (fall). 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 Rachel Berger, Charles Idelson, Kari Jones, Ty Richardson, Amber Smigiel, Chuleenan Svetvilas PHOTOGRAPHY Jaclyn Higgs, Tad Keyes, Choppy Oshiro We know that some people have been talking about 2020 as if they wished the whole year had never happened. We get it. It's been a terrible year. And it was supposed to be our year, the Year of the Nurse according to the World Health Organization. But we think it would be a huge disservice to our profession, to the United States, and to the world to just wipe 2020 from our collective memory. Because the existential pondering and profound realizations that only a deadly, global pandemic can pro- voke have finally made many people understand a number of basic truths: First, nurses are the backbone of the health care system, and essential workers are the back- bone of society, and if you don't protect all of us, nothing else can function. Second, health care is a human right and it's ridiculous to tie someone's health coverage to their job. Third, our society is structurally messed up in all kinds of ways and our Black, Indigenous, and Brown patients suffer the worst of it. Fourth, public health mat- ters! We all still live together in this world and no person lives as a germ island unto themselves. We still need pub- lic institutions devoted to protecting and promoting the public good. Fifth, science is real and to be reckoned with. Sixth, nothing good ever happens without collective action. We could probably keep going on for another 10 items, but we should probably stop here. The point we're trying to make is that we all learned a lot from this terrible, no-good year. The world is a very dysfunctional place. The question for all of us is: So what are we going to do about it? We know what we union nurses plan to do about it, and in fact have never stopped doing. We are proud that despite enormous pressure and risks to ourselves, we stepped up and continued to do what we do best: Advocate loudly and forcefully for our patients, for ourselves, our profession, and our communities. And the world took notice. So, in the end, it was our year after all. Deborah Burger, RN | Jean Ross, RN | Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, RN National Nurses United Presidents 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

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