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Profile:3 8/15/07 3:39 PM Page 23 carried on with the hectic business of everyday life: schooling, work, home, sports. After the organizing drive at Enloe, he realized it was no longer enough to sit on the sidelines. "The big awakening for me during that year of organizing was how battles that look very different on their surface are very similar," said Welch. "The nurse fighting to be able to give good care in California or the small farmer trying to protect his way of life, or the workers in a sweatshop in Indonesia trying to have a decent standard of living, or the fight to protect the environment all over the world are just different aspects of the same fight: the battle between people who think that the only value anything has is its market price, versus the people who think there are higher values than that." Welch got his own taste of the market system late last year when he applied for individual health coverage with California's big insurers. Wanting to devote more time to CNA/NNOC and traveling, Welch had moved to per diem status and couldn't use his hospital's group policy anymore. He was shocked when all the insurers rejected him, deeming him uninsurable because he had had some minor skin cancer recently removed from the tip of his nose. He relies on COBRA for now, but will probably return to a job with benefits by next year even though that's not the direction he wants to move his life. He said he wouldn't be facing this dilemma if the United States didn't let companies run healthcare for profit and instead offered universal healthcare coverage through a single-payer system that provided the same high-quality care to everyone. So as a registered nurse, Welch believes his big-picture responsibility is to help transform the healthcare system into one that works for people, rather than one that works for healthcare corporations. And nurses should be the ones leading the way. Nurses are naturally the most important players in healthcare, said Welch, and should control how hospitals run and how healthcare is organized and financed in America. "We have the knowledge, the numbers, the direct experience," he said. "We are involved with every aspect of that patient—not only their health, but the life they live and the circumstances in which they live that impact their health." Sadly, said Welch, nurses do not realize or use their own power. Mobilizing nurses to wake up to their strength and advocate for patients on a broader societal level is CNA/NNOC's greatest challenge, he believes. The organization must connect with, motivate, and activate members on a large scale. To do so, Welch says, requires much communication and education. "We have to make people understand all of this stuff and help them follow the money," said Welch. "We have to explain how something that happens at the state or federal level affects their lives and the care they're able to give, and make those connections." J U LY | A U G U S T 2 0 0 7 He knows, however, that it will be a tough process. Here, Welch borrows some lessons from his experiences competing in endurance sports. Over his life, he's competed in multiple marathons, triathlons, and even paddled a canoe through the big rapids of the Grand Canyon's Colorado River. "Sometimes it's a very, very, very long road and you don't win right away," he said. "But I learned that if you stick with it and keep plugging away and don't give up, you can succeed." I Lucia Hwang is editor of Registered Nurse. Profile W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G Name: David Welch Facility: Enloe Medical Center Unit: Cardiac rehabilitation Nursing for: 26 years On board since: 2003 Sign: Capricorn Pet nursing peeve: Nurses who think that politics doesn't affect them. Favorite work snack: Chocolate chip cookies Best work accomplishment: When he helps terrified patients, especially young ones who are blindsided by their heart attacks, understand how to move forward with and even improve their lives and health. Color of favorite scrubs: Red Favorite hobby: Bicycling Favorite musician: Dave Carter, American folk singer and songwriter Latest book read: He's in the middle of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Secret talent unrelated to nursing: Puttering around and working in his garden at home. REGISTERED NURSE 23