National Nurses United

Profile 7/25/06 12:39 AM Page 23 Late tomies," said Brown. "[These are] women who just felt pushed out." Brown loves to talk about the turning points she has witnessed in her years with CNA/NNOC. Her family members have been in unions as long as she can remember, and prompt, personal help from a CNA/NNOC representative made a great first impression. "I have seen how the union has helped me with my work environment, my ability to make a decent living, getting respect in my community, and how to stand up for myself as a woman," she said. "If an employer doesn't have a watchdog, they take advantage, they play favorites. It's human nature." After being active with her Professional Practice Committee and Joint Area Bargaining Council for more than 10 years, other nurse leaders asked her to run for the board of directors. She won. Little did she realize that soon, almost every minute of her 128 non-work hours per week would be packed with CNA/NNOC activities. She tries to pick her battles, volunteering on projects she thinks will make the most difference. She laughs as she remembers security turning the sprinklers on her and others in a picket line. The awe in her voice is tangible as she recounts a sea of supporters making way for singing, chanting CNA/NNOC nurses at a Sacramento protest. In 1995, she was one of the delegates who voted CNA out of the American Nurses Association. She rode the Truth Squad bus that shadowed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005. That year, Brown also waited at the courthouse when a judge ruled against Schwarzenegger's attempt to stall the staffing ratios. Nurses she has encouraged to become politically active are now in leadership positions themselves. Yet some of her biggest professional successes continue to be behind the scenes. Brown relishes organizing RNs on a local level and coaching them to talk with mayors and city councils, where face-toface discussions often make the most direct impact. On top of that, Brown negotiates contracts and talks to legislators about how the bills they consider will affect patients in hospitals and homes. Because at the beginning and end of it all, it comes back to people for her. "My mentors keep me going," she said. "No matter how discouraged I get, I know they've walked a path that was sometimes harder than my own." She knows the work she helps to do is not going to waste—over the years she has noticed more RNs coming to California hospitals from all over the country. She credits the RN-to-patient ratios, and in general the strong nurses' union voice. Brown is negotiating what might be her last Kaiser contract before she retires to Mexico. She plans on continuing her activism J U LY 2 0 0 6 using the Internet, and learning the local politics there. An American single-payer healthcare system is the next change she'd like to see in her life. To her, the missions of nursing and activism are intertwined. "I'm always worried about the future," she said. "Our present health insurance system is about budgets, not patient outcome. "Nurses get into the profession to help people; it's a passion," she said. "I've seen some very sad things and we need to be a voice for these people." Miranda Everitt is an intern at Registered Nurse. Profile W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G Name: Phyllis Brown Facility: Kaiser Permanente, Vallejo Unit: Home health Nursing for: 19 years On CNA board since: 1995 Sign: Aries Pet nursing peeve: Nurses who complain to each other but don't speak up to management. Favorite work snack: Sliced fruit, strawberries are best Latest work accomplishment: The safety committee she sits on created a new system to keep logs of used sharps for the state after she found the old program was not consistently followed. The program has been working well for two years. Color of favorite scrubs: White."I get bleach on everything." Favorite hobby: Gardening and cross-stitch. She stitched a CNA logo for a former CNA president. Favorite music: Classic rock Latest book read: Good Grief by Lolly Winston. It was a gift from her sister that was so excellent she passed it on to a patient. Secret talent unrelated to nursing: Getting things done."It might not be the way people expect, but things get done." REGISTERED NURSE 23

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