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TOC_Layout 1 12/27/11 3:13 PM Page 2 Letter from the Council of Presidents as we all go full swing into the holiday season, one common greeting you hear is "Peace on earth." But when we look around, there's very little peace right now, especially for working people. Instead, the world and people's lives are in turmoil. We all know friends, family members, or people in our communities suffering without jobs, without healthcare, from massive debt, without enough food, without even shelter. This is true not just in the United States, but across the globe. In Great Britain, the government wants to slash pension benefits for public-sector workers who have dedicated their lives to their jobs in hopes of retiring with security and dignity. On Nov. 30, some two million of them went out on strike to protest the proposed cuts and protect their pensions, the largest strike seen there in 30 years. On that day, NNU nurses protested at the British Embassy and five British consulates in solidarity with these public workers because we understand that an injury to one of us is an injury to all of us. As one of our nurse leaders quipped, "It's like a bad fungus that spreads. What happens there does matter to us." Instead of taking away what little working people have, National Nurses United RNs, joined by likeminded advocates around the world, are calling for a small sales tax on U.S. and other world financial transactions to generate billions of dollars that could be used to fund critical social NATIONAL NURSE,™ (ISSN 2153-0386 print/ISSN 2153-0394 online) The Voice of National Nurses United, November 2011 Volume 107/9 is published by National Nurses United, 2000 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94612-2908. It provides news of organizational activities and reports on developments of concern to all registered nurses across the nation. It also carries general coverage and commentary on matters of nursing practice, community and public health, and healthcare policy. It is published monthly except for needs. Our members have been busy educating the public about how this financial transaction tax on Wall Street could start rebalancing the gross inequity that exists in this country between the 99 percent and the wealthy 1 percent. In the good news category, the RNs of MountainView Hospital near Las Vegas have won their first contract with HCA, the nation's largest hospital chain. It's a huge victory for these nurses, and a potential model for thousands of other HCA nurses in bargaining talks. The success of the MountainView RNs would not be possible apart from our larger national nurses movement. In fact, when we reviewed NNU's events and activities in 2011 for our year in pictures review, we were astounded by how much nurses all over the country have accomplished. Don't be surprised to spot yourself in these photos! There's much to do. Please get involved and help us. Your patients' lives are depending on it. Deborah Burger, RN | Karen Higgins, RN | Jean Ross, RN National Nurses United Council of Presidents combined issues in January and February, and July and August. Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, California. POSTMASTER: send address changes to National Nurse, 2000 ™ Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94612-2908. To send a media release or announcement, 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. Stay connected www.facebook.com/NationalNurses www.flickr.com/nationalnursesunited TWITTER: @RNmagazine, @NationalNurses YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/NationalNursesUnited FACEBOOK: FLICKR: Please contact us with your story ideas They can be about practice or management 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 RoseAnn DeMoro EDITOR Lucia Hwang GRAPHIC DESIGN Jonathan Wieder COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Charles Idelson CONTRIBUTORS Gerard Brogan, RN, Hedy Dumpel, RN, JD, Jan Rabbers, Donna Smith, David Schildmeier, Ann Kettering Sincox PHOTOGRAPHY Jaclyn Higgs, Tad Keyes