Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/197772
NewsBriefs_NOV 12/10/10 1:28 AM Page 10 WRAP-UP REPORT Texas metro committee members throughout the state have been busy meeting with state legislators and community allies to make their case for supporting the Texas Hospital Patient Protection Act of 2011, the safe staffing ratio bill that state nurses plan to introduce this next legislative session. Besides state representatives, the RNs have set out to garner local city and county government support for the bill. Austin metro RNs have meetings set with Texas Watch, Texas Forward, Grey Panthers, and the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities. At a recent AFL-CIO break- Healthcare Stat of the Month 47.6 Percentage of elderly living below the poverty line before receiving Social Security 11.9 19 Percentage of elderly living above the poverty line after receiving Social Security Percentage of recipients who rely on Social Security as their sole source of income 56 fast, San Antonio metro RNs used the opportunity to gather signatures in support of ratio legislation, and Houston RNs submitted a formal request to meet with the mayor's office on a ratio resolution. Nurses also attended a legislative discussion hosted by Houston Congressman Gene Green. While the landscape of Texas politics may have shifted some at the state level recently, the role of Texas nurses continues to be to engage more colleagues in the social movement for change, to improve the lives of their patients and the nursing profession. From left: Texas RN Judith Lerma with AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka at an event where she spoke about the nurses' campaign for the 2011 Texas Patient Protection Act; VA leader Irma Westmoreland, RN with colleagues at the North Chicago VA facility. Percentage of seniors who had hospital insurance before Medicare 47 Percentage of individuals receiving Medicare with incomes below $21,660 Source: Social Security Administration; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Kaiser Family Foundation; Commonwealth Fund Veterans Administration interim chair nnu-va Irma Westmoreland visited three Chicago VA facilities in October to discuss NNU-VA's focus on staffing and working conditions for staff RNs. She visited with nurses at the North Chicago VA, Hines VA, and West Chicago VA (Jesse Brown). RNs had lots of questions about NNU and were excited to see that NNU had a presence in their facilities. NNU-VA will be working over the next few months to accomplish training in all the local units on the assignment despite objection (ADO) process and how registered nurses can make a concerted effort to address issues like safe staffing, mandatory overtime, and VA's Staffing Methodology plans. —Staff report 10 N AT I O N A L N U R S E 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 NOVEMBER 2010