National Nurses United

M A R C H | A P R I L 2 0 1 8 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 9 F or each registered nurse, the "a-ha!" moment came differently. Leah Monterrosa, a labor and delivery RN, became keenly aware of how the Trump-imposed Muslim travel ban was sharply increasing the stress level of her Muslim patients and their families. Rochelle Pardue-Okimoto, a NICU RN, was stunned by a reading exposing how African American women, on average, think about their race several times a day compared to white women, who may think about their race only several times a week. That added stress of racism may be hurting her health; was it a contributing factor to her first child being a preemie? Jana Siu, an oncology RN, finally realized the role that the giant agrochemical corpo- ration Monsanto played in the wave of suicides by farmers that she had observed four years prior while doing humanitarian medical work in India. What the nurses had in common was that they are all students of National Nurses United's online university programs, the only academic programs developed in house by a labor union that are made available to students worldwide. They convened for a panel and nationwide live broadcast on May 18 in Oakland at NNU headquarters to share their experiences as students in the program and to encourage RN colleagues across the country to enroll. Currently, NNU has two unique university programs. For fall semester, NNU's award- winning program in "Women's Global Health Leadership" will offer undergraduate classes on global social movements, care professions, and food systems through Rutgers University. Registered nurses are eligible to enroll in classes on militarization and health, health geographies, and globalization for either master's or bachelor's level credits through NNU's "Health Inequity and Care" program with American University. These are college- level courses taught by NNU educators and are unique in that working RNs can partici- pate online, along with undergraduate and graduate students attending these universi- ties. No other American labor union offers comparable types of academic courses or this level of political education; National Nurses United is the first. The courses provide RNs a knowledge base and analytical framework for the global corporate healthcare environment in which they practice and for the suffering they witness among their patients on the job. Monterrosa remembers being changed by one program lecture and readings about Taylorism, a scientific management method- ology often applied to healthcare that is based on factory assembly line labor that breaks down work into discrete tasks to be optimized. "As nurses, it's just unbelievable because humans don't function like machines," she said during the panel. "When I went into work the next day, I saw every- thing differently." Many of the RNs who have gone through the programs emphasized that, though the coursework was rigorous, the instructors were nurturing and helped them under- stand the material. "What makes the differ- ence is the staff because, as I said, you're reaching. You want to reach. It's going to be uncomfortable," said Dawn Vattuone, a labor and delivery RN. "But if you have somebody helping to reach across, to help get you over, that's going to make the differ- ence if you get it or not. The staff is going to help you through." Some nurses contemplating enrolling in the programs had practical questions, such as how many hours they could expect to devote to the course each week. "How many hours a week do you watch tv?" joked Pardue-Okimoto with a smile. "Because if you could replace those hours by reading books and writing a few papers or blogs…I think you could find the time to do it if you really think about it and you really want to." Many of the nurses have continued their studies and activism. Siu is now pursuing a master's degree in public health. Pardue- Okimoto now is a member of the El Cerrito City Council and running for the California State Assembly. "I know [the university program] made me a much better nurse," said Siu, who now looks at her patients not just as a diagnosis, but considers the larger social and environ- mental factors at play. "I can now talk to the doctors and have conversations about getting the patients the resources that they need." NNU offers full-tuition scholarships for NNU members to take classes at no cost. To apply for fall semester scholarships, or for more information about the university programs, please visit www.nationalnurs- esunited.org/online-university-programs. —Staff report NNU's university programs open eyes and minds of RNs

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