National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_Mar RAD's changes Korea back 4/2/10 6:12 PM Page 15 WRAP-UP REPORT District of Columbia the district of columbia Nurses Association is standing in solidarity with 15 nurses who were fired by Washington Medical Center after a snowstorm in early February prevented them from making it to work. The RNs were fired just as the independent nurses union that represents them was preparing to begin contract negotiations with the hospital, which is the District's largest private medical facility. They included a nurse who was employed by the hospital for 35 years and another who had received glowing performance reviews. A number of support staff were also dismissed. "DCNA will do everything in its power to assist the nurses and their representatives until every last nurse who wants to come back to work is returned to work," DCNA Executive Director Herman Brown, Jr. wrote in a March 5 letter to the hospital's president, Harry Rider. "Since there seems to be a snowstorm brewing in your head, maybe you could shovel out the snow and take some advice from a staunch supporter of unionism in the District of Columbia. Reinstate the nurses before this issue becomes a huge blemish on your hospital." The DCNA, a National Nurses United affiliate, represents over 2000 nurses in six District hospitals and is working to organize other RNs in the Washington, DC area. Healthcare Stat of the Month GERMANY 4 Number of maternal deaths GREECE KUWAIT per ISRAEL 100,000 live births JAPAN UNITED STATES 3 4 4 6 11 Source: World Health Organization MARCH 2010 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 Zenei Cortez, co-president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, explains to Illinois nurses the difference nurse-to-patient staffing ratios have made in her state at an NNOC-sponsored forum February 19. California passed legislation mandating safe staffing ratios in 1999; a similar bill is under consideration in the Illinois legislature. Illinois nurses from northern illinois gathered in Chicago February 19 to discuss safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios and strategies for achieving them in Illinois. The Nursing Care and Quality Improvement Act (S.B. 867, H.B. 5033) is a bill in the Illinois legislature that would mandate safe staffing by limiting the number of patients assigned to an RN. On January 25 the bill was introduced by Representative Mary Flowers, who joined the nurses at the forum, pledging her support and admiration for the nursing profession. Also at the forum was a panel of registered nurses. Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, a co-president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee and a vice president of National Nurses United, shared the history of winning ratios in California, and how ratios have improved the working conditions of nurses and quality of care for patients in California hospitals. Brenda Langford, president of NNOC Region 13 and vice president of National Nurses United, analyzed the N AT I O N A L N U R S E 15

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