W
hen Abbie Stewart, RN first started helping
organize nurses in Phoenix, AZ, she was amazed
by how personal the relationships between
organizers and RNs were.
"The organizers would know so much about
a nurse," said Stewart, who last year retired from
Kaiser and is an outgoing 10-year CNA board member. "They
would know the nurses' children's names, their husbands' names,
what they did for a living."
For Stewart, that realization deepened her belief that
organizing has been and always will be the key to CNA's accom-
plishments and future success in meeting its goals.
"I think developing a relationship with each individual nurse
is pivotal," she said. "It's going to be a one-on-one relationship
that stimulates trust and respect for each other, and when it
comes time to get them involved, they are more likely to because
of that relationship."
Lucky for the extroverted Stewart, organizing—talking to
people, listening to their concerns, engaging them in debate, and
educating them—comes naturally for her. She relishes talking to
her coworkers, to not-yet-organized nurses, and just about any-
one. The other day she said she stood out on her front lawn for
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Getting Organized
Abbie Stewart believes the key to
success is acting together BY LUCIA HWANG
C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E M A Y 2 0 0 5 17
