Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/447773
A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 W W W . C A L N U R S E S . O R G R E G I S T E R E D N U R S E 3 FEATU R ES 10 The New Germ Warfare The wide misuse of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture is quickly growing strains of super-bacteria that are resistant to treatment. Hospital practices meant to boost profits are contaminating more of our communities. Drug makers have largely abandoned antibiotic development and production. Are we doomed? Not if we practice some old-fashioned hygiene and attack the problem from several directions. By Conn Hallinan and Carl Bloice 16 A Study from Abroad On a visit with CNA/NNOC, a South Korean healthcare workers union shares some stories of success and in-your-face organizing. By Lucia Hwang 18 Never Stop Fighting CNA/NNOC RN board member Greg Miller developed his political consciousness and desire to be a nurse when he got drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. Since then, he's continued to struggle for his patients and for the nation through his work with CNA/NNOC. By Miranda Everitt DEPARTMENTS 4 News Briefs At a major Chicago protest, hospitals got a preview of what to expect if they deny RNs their union rights; a 2006 rerelease of the important book From Silence to Voice stresses the high worth of nurses, and explains why and how they should convince the media and public to think the same; a wrap-up of news and events from around the country; CNA/NNOC's campaign to pass Prop. 89, the Clean Elections initiative, is quickly picking up steam and big-name supporters. 9 It's Not Just Theory We don't often stop to connect how the actions of greedy lobbyists and crooked politicians damage our everyday lives, but our health, our kids' education, our livelihoods, and our patients' safety are all at stake. By Rose Ann DeMoro 10 8 Contents on the cover: (Left to right) RN board members Martha Kuhl, Malinda Markowitz, and Robert Marth, with other RNs in background, sit in the middle of down- town Chicago's Franklin Avenue to protest the hospital industry's support of a federal labor board decision that could strip RNs of their union rights bymaking them "supervisors." Photograph by Loren Santow.