National Nurses United

have become an icon in conjunction with the Bernie campaign. They weren't applauding me personally, but our amazing organization." Leading up to the California primary, National Nurses United held even more coordinated events with Sanders. On May 31, Sanders and NNU held a press conference in the San Francisco Bay Area to underscore their commitment to improving and expanding Medicare for all as a key goal and central component of reforming the U.S. healthcare system. "Over many years we have organized together for a people's agenda based on our shared values of caring, compassion, and community," said Deborah Burger, RN and a mem- ber of the NNU Council of Presidents. "For nurses, that means standing up with your patients to demand guaranteed healthcare for all. And Bernie Sanders stands for that same principle. Healthcare is a human right." Less than a week later, Sanders asked NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro to introduce him at his last big rally in San Fran- cisco before the California primary vote the next day on June 7. "We vote our values, not our fears," said DeMoro to thousands of Bernie fans who had trekked out to Crissy Field to see Sanders, other prominent political supporters, and musical groups perform against the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge. "You are on the path of social justice! You are on the right side of history!" Nurses were such dependable players at Bernie rallies that it was not rare for our RNs to spring into nursing action at Sanders events when audience members experienced medical emergencies. At a Bernie rally in Monterey, Calif., five nurses from Watsonville Com- munity Hospital and Salinas Valley Memorial Hospitals immediate- ly stepped forward and took charge when a woman a few rows in front suffered a sudden seizure. After the paramedics arrived and the nurses had cleared the woman's airway, they calmly returned to their seats and started cheering for Bernie! "I'm so proud that when history is written, National Nurses Unit- ed and nurses will go down as sparking a movement for political rev- olution in the 21st century," said Chism. 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 25 "I'm so proud that when history is written, National Nurses United and nurses will go down as sparking a movement for political revolution in the 21st century." —Martese Chism, RN

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