National Nurses United

W hen Nurses Week rolls around each May, our employers predictably trot out the pizza parties, free lunch totes, and all manner of cutesy promo- tions and prizes to show how much they "appreciate" and "value" us registered nurses. But National Nurses United RNs are not so easily fooled, nor bought off. Our nurse members, and the activist nurses we are allied with around the world through Global Nurses Unit- ed (GNU), always use Nurses Week as an opportunity to remind the public about what nurses really want and what we stand for as patient advocates. We don't want doughnuts and free pens; we want safe staffing ratios so that we can actually care for our patients the way they deserve, workplaces without violence, and lift teams and equipment to save our backs. We stand for a just healthcare system for all that eliminates the profit motive from providing people with what we consider a human right, so we oppose pri- vatization of services and the starvation of public health servic- es and the public sector. We know a healthy planet means healthier people, so we stand for a world not reliant on the burning and extraction of fossil fuels. "We have a slogan in NNU, 'Save one life, you're a hero. Save 100 lives, you're an RN,'" said RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of NNU. "Yet too many hos- pitals treat this as a moment to give nurses balloons or candy while seeking to drive down patient protections and nurses' livelihoods every other day of the year. Let's honor nurses every day by once again treating hospital care as a caring, public serv- ice, not just another Wall Street-type institution." Leading nurse and healthcare union organiza- tions in 11 countries across the globe held coordinated actions that week to high- light global efforts to improve patient care protec- tions, oppose cuts in healthcare services, and stop the erosion of nurses' workplace and living standards that are under attack in many countries. In the United States, NNU held rallies in Washing- ton, D.C. on May 12 to urge passage of mandatory, minimum nurse-to-patient ratio legislation and to call on the federal Veterans Administration to stop the bullying of registered nurses. Nurses also lobbied Con- gress in support of legislation to mandate minimum nurse-to-patient ratios across the country and for full collective bargaining rights for nurses employed at the Veterans Administration. California and Minnesota nurses used Nurses Week as a chance to lobby legisla- tors in support of various bills to protect patients. J U N E 2 0 1 5 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 13 Clockwise across both pages from top right: New South Wales RNs in Australia marched for safe staffing ratios; California RNs rallied and lobbied for a bill to prevent the abuse of "observation" status by hospitals; Washington, D.C. RNs rallied in support of ratios legislation for their city.

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