National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_Oct Alt 12/30/09 2:05 PM Page 4 NewsBriefs NEW RN SUPER UNION, NATIONAL NURSES UNITED, BECOMES REALITY NATIONAL A merican registered nurses have waited more than a century for this moment. In the culmination of years of discussion and collaboration among the country's top registered nurse leaders, CNA/NNOC at a founding December convention in Phoenix, Ariz. joined forces with United American Nurses and the Massachusetts Nurses Association to form the 150,000-strong National Nurses United (NNU), the largest RN union and professional association in the nation's history. The move united the three most active, progressive nursing groups in the United States today. "Welcome to the Continental Congress of the national nurses movement," said Karen Higgins, an RN with the Massachusetts 4 REGISTERED NURSE Nurses Association and one of the three members of the newly elected NNU Council of Presidents, at the convention's opening. "We are here to give birth to the largest union and professional association of direct-care nurses in the history of our nation for the purpose of transforming the face of nursing and patient care, and this is just the beginning." To thunderous applause and cheers from nurses representing practically every state, about 200 RN delegates unanimously voted on Dec. 7 to approve the creation of the new union. RNs wasted no time in flexing their strength before the hospital industry by staging the following day a spirited protest in front of the headquarters of the Arizona Hospital Association. The creation of NNU ushers in a new era for the national RN movement. A strong, national union by and for direct-care, bedside W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G nurses will be able—unlike previous RN groups concentrated in a particular region or state—to pursue an ambitious agenda from coast to coast. NNU will demand and fight for nationwide improvements to working conditions for RNs and patient protection standards, such as the federal law introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer mandating RN-to-patient ratios. In addition, hospital employers are typically huge national corporations operating in multiple states; a national RN union will be better prepared to deal with and negotiate collective bargaining contracts with such companies. The combined resources, support, and strength of 150,000 registered nurses will help organize the country's registered nurses who still show up for work each day without the protection and backing of a union that understands their practice and needs. NNU plans on expanding the voice of NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2009

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