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TOC.June 2006 6/11/06 8:16 AM Page 2 Registered Nurse LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT welcome to this launch issue of Registered Nurse, the journal of patient advocacy! Our nurse leadership decided this spring that all our RN members spread across the 50 states would be better served by a comprehensive CNA/NNOC magazine that includes news and information that everyone wants and needs to know, plus is more efficient to produce to boot. As CNA/NNOC expands and we learn even more about how RNs across the nation share the same struggles, we felt it was important to be inclusive, so that whether you're an RN from California, Illinois, or Maine, you know what's happening in the rest of the country. It also helps for everyone to be on the same page, literally, by receiving their news about CNA/NNOC from one central publication. We have great plans for Registered Nurse. In these pages, we'll cover not only CNA/NNOC's activities, but also explore important policy questions and tell the stories about our profession, about our patients, and about health in this country that must be told. We hope you'll find this publication is a useful tool to help you be a better patient advocate, on an individual, collective, and social level. One news item I want to call your attention to in this issue is an impending decision by the National Labor Relations Board that could potentially deny registered nurses the right to be represented by unions by classifying them as supervisors. Employers argue that because RNs often direct the work of lesser-skilled employees, they should be considered supervisors. If such a decision is handed down, it could have disastrous consequences for the future of our movement. It's m- y REGISTERED NURSE,™ (ISSN 0008-1310) The Journal of Patient Advocacy, June 2006 Volume 102/4 is published by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, 2000 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94612-2908. It provides news of organizational activities and reports on developments of concern to all registered nurses across the nation. It also carries general coverage and commentary on matters of nursing practice, community and public health, and healthcare policy. It is published monthly except for combined issues for July and August, and January and February. Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, California. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Registered Nurse, 2000 ™ Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94612-2908. To send a media release or announcement, fax (510) 6630629. Registered Nurse™ is carried on the CNA/NNOC website at www.calnurses.org. an important issue to check out, so please read executive director Rose Ann DeMoro's column in this issue. Our feature story this month delves into another looming public health issue: the increasing prevalence, and deadliness, of asthma. Everywhere you turn, more and more people, particularly children, are suffering from asthma these days. It's become so common that we rarely stop to consider that there's no cure, and that we don't really know the causes. Also in this issue, check out what's happening with our big push to clean up California elections by qualifying and passing a ballot initiative to make campaigns publicly financed, instead of being bankrolled by corporate contributions. Again, welcome to the new magazine. Let us know what you think about our coverage and don't forget to tip us off to important stories you may encounter. Deborah Burger, RN CNA/NNOC president For permission to reprint articles, write to Editorial Office. To subscribe, send $40 ($45 foreign) to Subscription Department. California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee also produces California Nurse, which it ™ will continue to publish periodically. PLEASE CONTACT US WITH YOUR STORY IDEAS They can be about practice or management trends you've observed, or simply something new you've encountered in the profession. They can be about one nurse, unit, or hospital, or about the wider landscape of healthcare policy from an RN's perspective. They can humorous, or a matter of life and death. If you're a writer and would like to contribute an article, please let us know. Our contact information is in the masthead. executive editor Rose Ann DeMoro editor Lucia Hwang graphic design Jonathan Wieder communications director Charles Idelson contributors Hedy Dumpel, RN, JD photography Jaclyn Higgs, Tad Keyes editorial intern Miranda Everitt