National Nurses United

C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5 3 Contents Departments 4 News Briefs After a year of hard work and countless protests, CNA defeats Schwarzenegger on both the special election and in preserving ratios; Tri-City RNs join CNA 7 Our Year of Protest What these victories, your work have meant to me. By Rose Ann DeMoro 19 BRN Turns 100 As the BRN celebrates its centennial, we review its long history of patient advocacy. Submitted by Hedy Dumpel, RN, JD and the Joint Nursing Practice Commission ON THE COVER: Belma Hartono, an RN who works at Olympia Medical Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, celebrates with CNA at the election night luau it hosted. Photograph by Tad Keyes. Features 8 Access Denied In the first of an occasional series profiling the plight of the uninsured and underinsured, meet 25-year-old Chris Taylor, a full-time student and part-time waiter. He's gone without health coverage for six years, and bumps along on a plan of youth, luck, drugstore medicine, and advice from his nurse mom. By Lucia Hwang 12 Global Warning Katrina-style storms are just one of many threats to human health. By Carl Bloice and Conn Hallinan 17 Hands-on Education Board member Sherri Stoddard, RN didn't know much about unions and CNA until her employer decided to give the nurses a 14 percent pay cut and she helped organize her own hospital. Today she's a big advocate for the power of collective nurse action. By Lucia Hwang 21 Editorial Index 2005 Where did I read that again? An index of what we published this past year. December 2005 PLEASE CONTACT US WITH YOUR STORY IDEAS They can be about practice or management trends you've observed, or simply some- thing 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 be 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. 4 | Election and ratio wins 8 | Young and uninsured 12 | Climate and health 17 | On board

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