Nurses Back Franken Bill to Eliminate Heavy Lifting
Direct care registered nurses are injured at a higher rate than laborers, movers and truck drivers because they reposition, move and lift patients, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A proposed bill would protect the health of RNs, ensure patients get the care they need and decrease work injuries, say leaders of the United American Nurses (UAN) and the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA).
The Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2009 (S. 1788), introduced by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop and implement a standard to eliminate, as much as possible, manual lifting of patients through the use of mechanical devices. The bill is a companion measure to H.R. 2381, introduced this session in the House by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.).
Massachusetts Nurses Say ‘Yes’ to RN Super Union
Delegates to the Massachusetts Nurses Association’s (MNA’s) annual convention yesterday voted overwhelmingly to become part of the largest registered nurses union in U.S. history—National Nurses United (NNU).
The new NNU unifies the 23,000-member MNA with the 86,000-strong California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), which voted to join the super union in September. The 45,000-member United American Nurses (UAN) will hold a vote on whether to join later this month.
Social Media: New Tools Aid in Organizing
They’re tweeting in Northern California about the Employee Free Choice Act, sharing about health care reform on Facebook in Montana and posting organizing messages on My Space for workers in York, Pa.
Across the country, union members are using the new social media to mobilize workers and share information.
Steve Selby, an Electrical Workers (IBEW) organizer in York, Pa., knows the value of social media. He urgently needed to reach 300 workers at a local Comcast office. Rather than standing outside the office and handing out a flier with different information each day, Selby taught himself how to set up a MySpace account. He handed out one flier directing workers to his MySpace page, where he shared information the workers needed to know.
Ad: When Nurses Disappear, So Does Patient Safety
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The nation’s crisis in patient care stems from routine understaffing of registered nurses in hospitals—and that understaffing, say nurses unions, leads to thousands of unnecessary patient deaths a year.
In a move to raise public awareness and build support for national safe staffing level standards, the nation’s three major nurses unions have launched a new TV and online advertising campaign. The campaign coincides with the debut of “HawthoRNe,” one of the new TV shows debuting this season that features nurse characters.
The ad from the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), United American Nurses (UAN) and Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) asks viewers to imagine a world without nurses.
When nurses disappear, so does patient safety….If you’ve ever been a patient or will be one in the future, insist on safe staffing levels—because it’s our registered nurses who put the care in health care.
A Tribute to the Nurses of Our Nation
Before more than 1,000 registered nurses and their supporters hit the halls of Congress last week to lobby lawmakers on key nursing and health care reform legislation and the Employee Free Choice Act, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney took time out to praise and encourage the sponsors of the event: the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), United American Nurses (UAN), Massachusetts Nurses Association, Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, New York State Nurses Association and the SEIU Nurse Alliance.
The nurses had traveled from all around the nation to take part in the National RN Day of Action as part of National Nurses Week. We thought we’d share some of Sweeney’s remarks as a reminder to all of us of the great work nurses do—work that sometimes too many of us take for granted—and as a way to highlight the need for safe working conditions so nurses can continue to give their patients the best care possible.
Thanks to all of you for what you do every day for all of our families—what a terrific gathering, what a great tribute to the nurses of our nation to have you here in Washington during National Nurses Week.
Professional Workers Form Coalition to Protect Public Interest
A coalition of 19 organizations representing professional employees today announced the creation of Professionals for the Public Interest: Associations and Unions Defending Professional Integrity (PftPI) to defend the ability of professionals to do their jobs right, despite outside pressures from bosses, politicians and others.
According to the AFL-CIO Department for Public Employees (DPE), polling over many years has shown that for professionals, the ability to do the job right is a priority as important as, or more important than, compensation and benefits. Professionals choose what they want to do, invest in extensive education and training and value the latitude to meet professional standards.
Yet professionals face extensive financial and political pressures that endanger their ability to turn out quality work and, as a result, endanger the public they serve, DPE says. For example, scientists found that the Bush administration regularly twisted the results of their research to fit a political agenda. Nurses are engaged in ongoing struggles to provide better service by safe staffing, and teachers seek to reduce class sizes.
Hundreds of Nurses Rally on Capitol Hill in National Day of Action
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| 500 nurses rallied for health care reform Wednesday on Capitol Hill. |
Here’s a great report on nurses rallying for health care reform in Washington, D.C., from Katrina Blomdahl, writer-researcher for RNs Working Together, a coalition of 10 AFL-CIO unions representing more than 200,000 registered nurses nationally.
Spirits and energy ran high today as hundreds of nurses from all over the country gathered to participate in a National RN Day of Action in Washington, D.C., adding their voices to the nationwide demands for comprehensive health care reform.
The day’s activities included an animated morning nurses’ conference, followed by a march to Upper Senate Park that gained power along the way, gathering 500 nurses and another 500 patient advocates.
Speakers at the rally included Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC); Ann Converso, RN, president of the United American Nurses (UAN); Gregory Junemann, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE); Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.); Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); and M*A*S*H actor Mike Farrell.
Survey: Health Care Facilities Not Ready for Flu Pandemic
Many of our nation’s health care facilities are not prepared to protect health care workers from exposures to pandemic influenza, putting both care providers and the public at risk, according to a new report compiled by the AFL-CIO and six unions.
A survey of some 104 health care facilities nationwide indicate that although these facilities have made some progress in preparing for a possible flu pandemic, more than a third of the clinics surveyed have no written plan in place. Further, more than one-third of the survey respondents believe their workplace either is not ready or only slightly ready to address the health and safety needs necessary to protect health care workers during a pandemic.
RNs on Capitol Hill Urge Passage of Employee Free Choice, RESPECT Act
Some 100 registered nurses (RNs) from a dozen United American Nurses (UAN) affiliates across the country were on Capitol Hill yesterday urging lawmakers to protect patient safety and workers’ rights.
They called on U.S. Senate and House members to approve legislation setting minimum RN-patient staffing levels and urged passage of the Employee Free Choice Act and the RESPECT Act (expected to be introduced later this year).
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In 2006, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision known as the Oakwood cases that redefined which workers could be classified as “supervisors” and therefore ineligible to join a union. Nurses could be especially hard hit by the ruling and some hospitals have reclassified nurses. The RESPECT Act would protect nurses and other workers from reclassification. Says UAN President Ann Converso, RN:
We are already seeing the negative impact of the Oakwood decision, which has potentially jeopardized the union rights of thousands of staff nurses who serve charge duty in their hospitals our ability as staff nurses to strongly and effectively advocate for our patients is protected by our union. That’s why it’s so important that we enact legislation like the RESPECT Act and the Employee Free Choice Act safeguarding the right of every RN at the bedside to choose a union.
VA Nurses: One Step Closer to Restored Bargaining Rights
Katrina Blomdahl, writer-researcher for RNs Working Together, says the organization applauds moves to return bargaining rights to Veterans Affairs nurses. RNs Working Together is a coalition of 10 AFL-CIO unions representing more than 200,000 registered nurses nationally.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, reached out to right a serious wrong when they recently introduced crucial legislation (S. 362 and H.R. 949) to restore the collective bargaining rights of VA health care professionals, including registered nurses.
For the past several years, health care professionals have been scrambling to meet soaring patient care demands from two wars and an aging population. Meanwhile, the professionals who provide the hands-on care to our veterans have seen their ability to have an effective voice in the workplace eroded by the Bush administration, intensifying the shortage in VA hospitals. The legislation sponsored by Rockefeller and Filner aims to reverse that trend.
