Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1446759
8 NNOC/NNU 101 ยป What is NNOC/NNU? CNA sponsors the intro- duction of CalCare/A.B. 1400 (Kalra), a bill to implement single-payer in California and guarantee comprehensive, high- quality health care to all California residents as a human right. RNRN deploys nurses to assist with Covid-19 vaccine administration to underserved communities in Los Angeles, Calif. and Corpus Christi, Texas. Nurses applaud the intro- duction of the Medicare for All Act of 2021, H.R. 1976, introduced by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), and cosponsored by more than half of the House Democratic Caucus including 14 committee chairs and key leadership members. The nurses' fight for pro- tection from workplace violence gains support with reintroduction of the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (Rep. Joe Courtney, CT-2). NNU issues a new nation- wide survey of 9,200 RNs revealing that a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, employers are still failing to provide safe staffing, optimal PPE, and testing. In April, all California hospitals must comply with A.B. 2537, requiring a three-month stockpile of PPE to protect employees and patients. 2,000 RNs at Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine, the state's largest hospital, vote to join the Maine State Nurses Association/NNU. A federal ratios bill, sponsored by NNU and based on California's man- datory nurse-to-patient ratios law, is reintroduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown in the Senate and Rep. Jan Schakowsky in the House. The Medical Debt Protection Act, a Maryland bill spearheaded by NNU with a broad coalition of Maryland activists, became law at the end of May. NNU nurses fought for and won the landmark U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Covid-19 Health Care Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), the first enforce- able national Covid-19 standard to protect their union and nonunion colleagues and patients across the country. In July, RNs at more than 24 facilities hold actions across the country to demand that employers address problems high- lighted by the Covid-19 pandemic and prioritize patient safety and workplace protections. Some 10,000 RNs at 18 HCA hospitals in six states ratified new contracts that included landmark health and safety lan- guage and many other improvements. RNs at HCA's Mission Hospital ratified their first-ever union contract. More than 14,000 RNs in California and Nevada ratify a four-year contract with Dignity Health that features stronger infec- tious disease prevention measures for nurses and patients. NNU's sixth nationwide survey of more than 5,000 registered nurses reveals that employers must do more to be fully compliant with the OSHA Covid-19 Health Care ETS and to implement optimal standards to protect nurses and other health care workers from Covid-19. CNA/NNU sponsors and wins A.B. 1407, landmark legislation to require implicit bias education and training for nursing students and new graduates in California, an important step in addressing persistent racial disparities in health care. RNs at Doctors Hospital of Manteca in Manteca, Calif. vote by 94 percent to affiliate with CNA/NNU, joining more than 5,300 nurses at 13 Tenet facilities in Arizona and California. 21,000 RNs at 21 Kaiser facilities in Northern California hold a one-day sympathy strike in solidar- ity with IUOE Stationary Engineers, Local 39.