National Nurses United

NATIONAL NURSE,™ (USPS publication permit number 0807-560/ISSN 2153-0386 print/ISSN 2153-0394 online) The Voice of National Nurses United, January-February 2017 (Volume 113/1) is published by National Nurses United, 155 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA 94612-2908. It provides news of or ganizational activities and reports on developments of concern to all registered nurses across the nation. It also carries gen- eral coverage and commen tary on matters of nursing practice, community and public health, and healthcare policy. It is published five times per year, with combined issues in January-February, March-April, May-June, July-August-September, and October- November-December. Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, California. POSTMASTER: send address changes to National Nurse, ™ 155 Grand Avenue, 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, PHOTOGRAPHY Jaclyn Higgs, Tad Keyes, Choppy Oshiro, Kate Usher it's hard to believe that we are just a couple of months into 2017. A lot has happened in our nation in just a short time, and many changes are yet to come. And we nurses must be ready. On March 1, National Nurses United convened a his- toric meeting of chief nurse representatives from all over the country, from all kinds of hospital systems and clinics. Chief nurse reps are our top RN leaders at each facility, and it is absolutely critical that they understand what is coming up on the political horizon for nurses, patients, and for our larger communities—and what to do about it. We learned about a number of grim and sobering threats to our ability to advocate for ourselves and our patients but, most importantly, talked about our practi- cal plan for standing strong and getting through these next four years. You can learn more about the changing land- scape in this issue's coverage of the meeting. In light of this administration's new travel and immigra- tion restrictions and deportation policies and the climate of fear they have created for many people born outside the United States, we would also like to take this opportunity to remind all of us what we nurses committed to when we became nurses: to care for and advocate for our patients regardless of who they are, where they might be born, what nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion they might be, what immigration status they might be. We see our patients as humans; we empathize with and respond to anyone need- ing medical help. Some of us understand this from personal experience; in this issue, you can also read the story of Tveen Kirkpatrick, one of our RN members and herself a former refugee. Remember, these souls seeking safety and a better life in the United States are not so Other. Rather, they are us. If history has taught us anything, colleagues, it's that this is absolutely not the time to hide our heads in the sand. It's tempting to just focus inward on your life, family, and sim- ply "mind your own business," but there is way too much at stake and way too much ground to be lost that could devas- tate our profession, our livelihood, our children, our com- munities, our country, and our earth for generations to come. Nurses are fighters, and people are looking to us to lead. Let's step up to the challenge. Deborah Burger, RN | Jean Ross, RN National Nurses United Co-presidents Letter from the NNU 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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