National Nurses United

NATIONAL NURSE,™ (ISSN 2153-0386 print /ISSN 2153-0394 online) The Voice of National Nurses United, September 2015 Volume 111/6 is pub- lished by National Nurses United, 2000 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94612- 2908. It provides news of organizational activities and reports on developments of concern to all registered nurses across the nation. It also carries general cover- age and commen tary on matters of nurs- ing practice, community and public health, and healthcare policy. It is pub- lished monthly except for combined issues in January and February, April and May, and July and August. Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, California. POSTMASTER: send address changes to National Nurse, ™ 2000 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94612-2908. To send a media release or announce- ment, fax (510) 663-0629. National Nurse™ is carried on the NNU website at www.nationalnursesunited.org. For permission to reprint articles, write to Editorial Office. To subscribe, send $40 ($45 foreign) to Subscription Department. Please contact us with your story ideas They can be about practice or manage- ment trends you've observed, or simply something 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. You can reach us at nationalnurse@nationalnursesunited.org EXECUTIVE EDITOR RoseAnn DeMoro EDITOR Lucia Hwang GRAPHIC DESIGN Jonathan Wieder COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Charles Idelson CONTRIBUTORS Barb Brady, Gerard Brogan, RN, David Schildmeier PHOTOGRAPHY Jaclyn Higgs, Tad Keyes, Choppy Oshiro wowza! we haven't been this excited for a long, long time. We're referring to our #Nurses4BeRNie campaign, of course, where we are educating all RNs and our networks to "vote nurses' values" of caring, compassion, and community and support Sen. Bernie Sanders for president. The level of organic energy, engagement, and hope generated by Bernie's campaign among nurses and the public is unbelievable. Karen had the privilege of speaking on stage at a number of Sanders events and rallies these past months, and she was just amazed at how many people turned out to hear Bernie's message about building a grassroots polit- ical revolution to make government work in favor of working people and not corporate America and billionaires. At one rally, almost a thousand people could not fit in the auditorium so waited and listened outside! It was truly awe inspiring. We hope that you will consider getting involved in support- ing the Sanders campaign, because it represents a movement to cure many of the societal ills we nurses have been witness- ing for far, far too long. All the things Bernie wants to achieve for the United States—such as providing Medicare for all, reversing the global climate crisis, raising the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, and providing free public college—are things that nurses want and know will go a long ways towards improving the health of our patients and our communities. There are always nurses who wonder why NNU gets involved in politics or advocates for particular candidates. We would like to point out that nurses and nursing do not exist in a vacuum. Our elected government officials make decisions every day that determine how we do our jobs, as well as the kind of world we live in. For example, government regulates the hospital corpora- tions that so many of us work for. Do you think we'll ever win safe staffing ratios for the entire United States if we keep electing can- didates who are beholden to corporate America and Wall Street to put them in office? In addition to all of our Bernie work, our members are still fighting the good fight: bargaining and settling con- tracts, going on strike, advocating for patients, saving the planet, volunteering to help the less fortunate. You can find news in this issue about all of the good work NNU registered nurses have been doing over the past couple of months. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and there is still so much work to do. We hope you will recognize what a critical moment in history this is, and how you, as a registered nurse and the most trusted profession in America, have a special role to play. Please join us in building the movement to heal America! For ways to get active, please check our website and talk to your nurse and labor reps. Deborah Burger, RN | Karen Higgins, RN | Jean Ross, RN National Nurses United Council of Presidents Letter from the Council of Presidents Stay connected FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/NationalNurses TWITTER: @RNmagazine, @NationalNurses FLICKR: www.flickr.com/nationalnursesunited YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/NationalNursesUnited DIGITAL MAGAZINE: NationalNurseMagazine.org

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