National Nurses United

warehouse patients in "observation" status, and Assembly member Tony Thurmond, author of CNA-sponsored bill A.B. 2272, which regulates harmful surgical plume smoke, both addressed the nurses. "The most important thing is to make sure that everybody in this state and country has access to healthcare," said Hernandez, who is chair of the Senate Health Committee. "That's the most important thing." Nurses then marched to the Capitol building for a spirited rally prior to their lobbying visits. The rally featured music by Grupo La Meta, who gained national attention for its song "El Quemazón" ("The Bern"), a corrido for Sanders. Mark Capitolo, on behalf of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's campaign in support of the California Drug Price Relief Act, a November state ballot measure endorsed by the California Nurses Association and Bernie Sanders, also spoke about the importance of this initiative to curb price gouging by the runaway phar- maceutical industry. The measure would ensure that California pays no more than the Department of Veterans Affairs does for the same prescription drugs. "It just tells the drug companies, 'Hey, we want the same deal that Congress forced you to give the VA, which pays the lowest prices in the country,'" said Capitolo. M A R C H | A P R I L 2 0 1 6 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 27 Marchelle Bettis, RN Goes to Washington As a veteran registered nurse with 30 years of experience and the last 10 of those caring for trauma and ICU cases at Saint Louis University Hospital in Missouri, Marchelle Bettis has lived through intense experiences facing life and death that have for- ever changed her. One time, she was caring for a young mother with two small kids who was in the ICU after an accident that killed her husband. The patient was sobbing because of the trauma and because her kids would now be without their father. "I sat with her, spent the time, washed her hair to get the blood out, and comforted her," said Bettis. "In the hospital, nurses help patients and their fami- lies heal and deal with their situations, with more than just pro- cedures, medicines, and bandages. We support and care for them in some of their most difficult moments." Lawmakers in the halls and chambers of Congress, on the contrary, can be extremely removed from the realities of nursing and healthcare. The first time Bettis traveled to Washington, D.C. last July to participate in a National Nurses United national lobby day event, she noticed that legislators and their staff seemed to be isolated from the real world that she and her patients face in St. Louis. "Everything was marble and glass," she said. For these reasons and more, Bettis felt compelled to join with her fellow nurses to visit these representatives and directly share her experiences, perspectives, and positions as an RN. As she and dozens of other RNs rallied in Washington, D.C. for an improved and expanded Medicare for all, nurse colleagues in Illi- nois, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Maine, California, among other states, held similar actions. After an evening training ses- sion to prepare for the big day, nurses were up bright and early to march to Capitol Hill for the rally and then fanned out to indi- vidual meetings with members of Congress and their staffs to educate them, build relationships with them, and grow the strength of registered nurses to win programs such as Medicare for all and national safe staffing ratios. "I decided to participate in the lobby day because we don't often get a chance to exercise our democratic rights," said Bettis. "I thought it was important to go to DC to tell our elected representatives what I, as a nurse treating people every day, see at the bedside and to tell them what our communities need to be healthy." Ensuring everyone can access high-quality healthcare regardless of their income is one of Bettis' passions. Every day, she sees too many patients who are under age 65 don't get the medical care or treat- ments they need, or receive substandard care, because they don't have insurance, can't afford to use their insurance due to high copays and deductibles, or are denied by their insurers. "In my neighborhood and my family, not everyone gets the healthcare they need to live a decent life," said Bettis, whose own niece is uninsured and suffers from a rare clot- ting disorder. "We're supposed to be the greatest country in the world. It troubles me that not everyone gets the care they need." After her lobbying visits, Bettis reflected that she believed hearing from a real, live registered nurse did make a difference to the lawmakers she met. And she also better understood the envi- ronment and circumstances under which the laws that govern our lives and society are made. "It's really something to go to Capitol Hill, to see the people who run our country in action," said Bettis. "There was an energy in where they work. It's a whole different world." She highly encourages registered nurses to get involved in advocating for their patients and communities at the legislative level. "I think nurses should participate in NNU's lobby days," Bettis said. "It's important that those we put in office hear our voices. Nurses are patient advocates, at the bedside and beyond. There is no better way for us to advocate for those we care for than to make sure their needs, and our voices, are heard by the people who make the laws. It is the highest form of advocacy." —Korey Hartwich "Legislators need to hear from you, because you are the ones who incur the risks every day." —Bonnie Castillo, RN

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