National Nurses United

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 9 hospitals that serve low-income communi- ties, closing birthing centers, eliminating psychiatric, acute rehab, and skilled nursing services, and even stopping early breast cancer screenings for women with disabili- ties. Yet according to state hospital financial data, the supposed "not-for-profit" chain has made $3.7 billion in profit over the past six years, pays 20 of its top executives more than $1 million a year with the CEO, Pat Fry, making almost $4 million, and has made million-dollar donations to sports teams. "We staunchly refuse to be silenced on patient care protections," said Sharon Tobin, a 24-year RN at Sutter Mills-Peninsula Health Services in Burlingame. "A common theme throughout management's proposals is removing our presence on committees that address important patient care issues and nursing practices. As nurses, we speak up, and we insist on standards that safe- guard our patients, but Sutter doesn't want to hear about anything that might cut into their huge profits." For the more than 17,000 Kaiser RNs, the strike was about showing sympathy and support for hospital coworkers, social work- ers, optometrists, psychologists, and other direct-care providers, who are also facing big reductions in healthcare coverage and retirement benefits with the giant health- care corporation. Kaiser, though also classi- fied as a nonprofit, has raked in record profits over the past few years, netting $1.9 billion last year alone. "When we are all struggling to keep our head above water it is unconscionable for Kaiser Permanente to attempt to extract cuts from frontline healthcare workers," said Catherine Kennedy, who is a neonatal inten- sive care nursery RN at Kaiser Roseville. "If Kaiser wants to cut, it should be from the 14 Kaiser executives who are making over $1 million dollars a year, not the healthcare employees who have devoted themselves to the patients and the community." For the more than 700 Children's Hospital nurses, September's strike was their third in a year over healthcare and staffing issues. They are holding the line against healthcare take- aways that would sharply increase what they would pay out of pocket, restrict choice, and also make it prohibitively expensive to bring their own children to their workplace for care. Children's also refuses to provide break relief nurses and refuses to agree that charge nurses should not have patient assignments in order to focus on coordinating care on the floor. Together, registered nurses on Sept. 22 reminded their employers that hospitals cannot run without their hard work. When the strike started at 7 a.m., hundreds of RNs just coming off their night shifts poured out A s testament to the growing national power of regis- tered nurses, National Nurs- es United Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro has, for the tenth straight year, been ranked by a national healthcare industry publication as among the 100 most influ- ential people in healthcare. She is notably also one of only 10 people who has made the list for the decade that Modern Healthcare magazine has conducted the survey. This year, DeMoro was placed at number 31 on the list, which is dominat- ed by healthcare corporation CEOs and government officials. As the sole labor leader named, she is also the only person to represent direct providers of healthcare. "We are enormously proud to see RoseAnn recognized and honored year after year after year," said Deborah Burger, RN and a member of National Nurses Unit- ed's Council of Presidents. "It is both a recognition of her unparalleled leadership for nurses and patients across the country, but also an honor for a powerful and influ- ential national nurses movement that we are building together." —Staff report NNU Leader Named Among Most Influential in Healthcare (Continued on page 10) NewsBriefs_Sept 10/11/11 9:30 PM Page 9

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