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Common Values
On the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, nurses learn lessons from
the suffragists to apply to patient advocacy today. BY LUCIA HWANG
12
N AT I O N A L N U R S E
T
hey came by train. They came by bus. They came by taxi. And
they came by plane.
On Aug. 26, more than 2,500 registered nurses journeyed under
the banner of National Nurses United to Sacramento, Calif. to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the right of American women to
vote, and to draw parallels between the struggle of suffragists with
the struggle of today's nurses to advocate for their patients at the
bedside, at the ballot box, and in the streets. To mark the historic
occasion, most of the RNs donned Victorian and Edwardian dress
and nursing uniforms from those eras. The gathering of that many
energetic nurses in period costume was an amazing sight to behold.
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
SEPTEMBER 2010