Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1399555
7 1996 CNA wins Department of Health Services, Title 22 changes strengthening RNs' ability to advocate for patients in California. Provisions include floating protections and requirement that every patient be assessed by an RN at least once during a shift. 1997–1998 7,500 CNA Kaiser Permanente RNs wage 18-month epic battle, including six strikes, with HMO giant, beating back major takeaways and making significant gains in staffing protections. 1999 California passes first-in-the-nation law, A.B. 394, sponsored by CNA, mandating minimum RN-to- patient ratios for all hospital units. CNA also wins whistle-blower protection for health care employees who expose unsafe hospital conditions. 2001 CNA wins unprecedented organizing pact with Catholic Healthcare West (CHW). Within one year, CNA wins elections at nine CHW hospitals, signifi- cantly increasing membership in mostly unorganized Southern California. Note: CHW now Dignity Health. 2003 CNA wins elections in Tenet Healthcare hospitals throughout California, which was the largest, mostly nonunion, chain in the West. RNs at Tenet's Doctors Medical Center San Pablo, Calif. win retirement gains after a 13-month strike, successfully protecting standards for all Bay Area RNs. 2004 RN safe staffing ratios implemented in all California acute-care hospitals. CNA's dramatic growth continues, especially in Southern California, tripling over 10 years. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger attacks staffing ratios, leading to CNA protests throughout California. CNA goes national in response to an overwhelming demand by direct-care nurses across the United States. CNA organizes first nurse-to-nurse relief assistance with Sri Lanka Public Services United Nurses Union to assist with tsunami relief efforts. CNA RNs work with local nurses to set up clinics with donated medical supplies. 2005 CNA organizes Katrina relief effort, sending more than 300 RN volunteers to 25 health care facilities. Following the disaster, the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN) is formed as a direct-care nurse disaster relief group. 1,800 Cook County, Ill. RNs vote to join the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), the new national affiliate of CNA. CNA/NNOC House of Delegates overwhelmingly votes to seek affiliation with the AFL-CIO. 2006 Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA) votes to join CNA/NNOC. 2007 Saint Mary's RNs in Reno, Nev. vote to join CNA/ NNOC, making it the first Nevada hospital to affiliate with CNA/NNOC. CNA/NNOC wins breakthrough multi-state organizing pact with Tenet Healthcare, one of the largest for RNs in United States history, covering 6,500 RNs. 2008 RNs at Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center Hospital in Houston vote for CNA/NNOC representation, becoming the first private-sector hospital in Texas to win union collective bargaining rights. 1,100 RNs at three Las Vegas CHW hospitals vote to join CNA/NNOC. Note: CHW now Dignity Health. 2009 Unanimous vote creates largest RN union in U.S. history: National Nurses United (NNU) with 150,000 RNs in all 50 states. 7,000 Veterans Affairs (VA) RNs in 22 VA hospitals in 11 states affiliate with National Nurses United.