National Nurses United

Profile:3 10/18/07 9:01 AM Page 22 Hail to the Chiefs Meet the four members of CNA/NNOC's new Council of Presidents R egistered n u rse delegates in 2005 voted overwhelmingly in favor of changing CNA/NNOC's governing structure so that instead of just one president, four members of a Council of Presidents will share leadership duties for this fast-growing organization. Not only does having a group of co-presidents help lighten the load for all – especially since all of CNA/NNOC's officers keep working as RNs to stay close to bedside issues – but also increases the geographic and system representation for members. The new council was elected this year and installed at the 2007 House of Delegates convention. Take a moment to acquaint yourself with this amazing group of women. Deborah Burger as cna/nnoc's president for the past four years and now a member of the Council of Presidents, Deborah Burger reflected recently on the events that brought her to this point and the future challenges through which she must help lead the organization. The biggest obstacles for the profession, as she sees them, are the continual onslaughts by healthcare corporations to erode patient rights and nurse input. For CNA/NNOC, the biggest challenge will be to reach out to nurses nationally in creating a true RN movement for realizing a universal, single-payer healthcare system. The eldest of three girls in a working-class family from Sacramento, Calif., Burger came of age in the 1960s, when there were basically three career options – outside of being a housewife – for women: teacher, secretary, or nurse. As a kid, she thought it would be fun to a forest ranger, but career counselors in those days didn't encourage girls down such paths. Ultimately, she chose nursing. After graduating from City College of San Francisco, Burger got her first permanent job at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco as a medical surgical RN, then in post partum and the intensive care nursery. After she moved to Santa Rosa in 1984, she continued to work for Kaiser in pediatrics in the outpatient clinic, head and neck surgery, then in diabetes case management where she works part time now. Burger's first husband was in the asbestos workers and insulators union, and encouraged her to attend regional or professional practice committee meetings, which she sometimes did. But it wasn't until he died suddenly in 1984 that she became really invested in CNA. Burger asked her manager for a leave of absence, a couple of months off so she could serve as her late husband's executor and take care of other family business. Her immediate supervisor said yes, but that person's supervisor said no, that Burger needed a better excuse. She appealed to her labor representative, who "stood up for 22 REGISTERED NURSE me and made it happen," said Burger. From there, Burger was recruited to run for and serve in leadership positions, joining the board as treasurer in 1999 before also sitting as vice president and finally president. She never really expected to hold such high office with CNA/ NNOC, said Burger, but her colleagues encouraged her. "I think people realized I wasn't in it for the glory or all the accolades," she said. "I was more committed to changing things, and was willing to put in the time rather than getting my ego boost." As she got more involved, she also grew more politically aware. She has always believed in a national, single-payer healthcare system, but just didn't know it or think in those terms. When Burger was starting out in nursing, she noticed that treatment of patients varied depending on what kind of insurance they did or didn't have. "Some people had VIP suites, some people had more access to the nurses," she remembered. "I personally didn't feel it was right to pick and choose what kind of service patients got. When you're sick, you're sick and you should all get the same kind of care." It took only a short jump from this desire that all people get equal access to quality healthcare to her support for a universal, national healthcare system. She firmly believes that education is the key to convincing RNs that single-payer healthcare is the way to go. "It's really encouraging for me to see people who were so against it come around," said Burger. "But their opposition really had to do with the fact that they couldn't see it any other way; that's what they were taught. If you spend enough time with them to debunk a lot of the misconceptions, they get it. But it's more than just one conversation." Geri Jenkins over her 30-year career as a surgical ICU and trauma RN with the University of California San Diego Medical Center's Hillcrest campus, Geri Jenkins always remembers May 2002 as a pivotal moment. W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G OCTOBER 2007

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