National Nurses United

4 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 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 J U N E 2 0 1 5 NEWS BRIEFS National Nurses United members have voted by a significant margin to reelect RNs Debo- rah Burger of California, Karen Higgins of Massachusetts, and Jean Ross of Minnesota as national NNU co-presidents. RN Martha Kuhl, California, was reelected as NNU Secretary Treasurer. Following are responses from our top NNU officers regarding NNU's achievements and what is next for the organization. Q. Do you view the election outcome as a referendum on the direction of NNU as a national voice for all RNs? Deborah: I do see the election outcome as a referendum on the direction of NNU as a national voice for all RNs. Every RN knows that the only way to defeat a bad employer or bad legislation is through collective soli- darity. Our strength is our ability to advocate and lobby as one. The politicians and employers know this and are spurred into action when we are united. Karen: I believe our members continue to believe in what we do on their behalf and on behalf of patients fighting for safe staffing and workplace safety on issues from Ebola to safe patient handling to workplace violence. Jean: Yes. NNU has a record of great achievement in protecting our members' economic security and workplace protec- tions, setting new standards in our contracts, and in enacting legislation and regulation that pro tects nurses and promotes nursing practice. Martha: Yes, we have been vocal propo- nents of building NNU into the strongest single voice of RNs across the country and getting reelected by such a large margin validates that. Q. What do you view as NNU's greatest achievement of the past term? Karen: I think our greatest achievement is our continuing to fight for nurses and patients no matter what the obstacles are or who might be offended that the nurses and patients come first. Jean: Many. I am especially proud that we have been very successful in rejecting efforts by most hospital employers to cut nurses' health benefits, retirement, job security, and patient protections. And, we've increasingly won new breakthroughs in our contracts, such as increased longevity pay, bans on mandatory overtime, restrictions on unsafe floating, lift teams to prevent injuries, and a greater voice for RNs on staffing and the use of technology. Martha: We did really great work on several fronts. We addressed RN and patient safety when others would not, regarding infectious exposures on the job. We have organized new RNs into NNU and our affili- ates. We have promoted a just taxation proposal in the Robin Hood Tax. And we are on the forefront of the struggle for social, environmental, and economic justice with our Main Street Contract Campaign. Deborah: The biggest accomplishment for NNU in this last term was to highlight the need for greater mandatory health and work- place safety requirements and safe patient ratios nationally. Nurses were placed in very dangerous circumstances during the Ebola outbreak. There was NO ONE, except NNU, advocating for the patients and the nurses' safety while caring for the Ebola patients. We overcame huge governmental bureaucracies and well-funded companies to secure better protections. While they are still far from perfect, we were able to leverage the newly secured protections nationally to achieve mandatory education, hands-on training, and even better personal protective equipment in California. We are using this precedent to lobby for better protections nationally. Q. What should be the top priorities of NNU in the coming term? Martha: I think that the five objectives delineated in our constitution should still be our top priorities*. We are charged with building a movement to defend and advance the interests of patients and direct-care RNs by uniting all direct-care RNs in a single organization to represent and promote the interests of RNs so we can provide the best possible patient care. Also, to do this we need to win healthcare as a human right. Deborah: Continuing to challenge the agen- da of corporate healthcare systems to roll back nurses' livelihood, health coverage, and pensions, push nurses out of the hospital setting, and replace RNs and their professional judgment with technology. And to expand on the gains we have already won in job and retire- ment security, just compensation, and strength- ening nurses' voices in patient care delivery. We will also continue to build a greater national and international movement of RNs. During this last term, NNU along with 14 other countries globally, formed Global Nurses United (another great accomplishment). Since GNU's founding, we have participated in Glob- al RN Days of Action highlighting the need for publicly funded healthcare systems, the Robin Hood Tax, and patient care protections. We are adding more countries to GNU and we have Looking forward and back A quick chat with our reelected, top NNU officers

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