New national nurses union forms - page 20

Legislative Purpose

To address the nationwide shortage of hospital direct-care registered nurses; provide minimum safe patient protection standards — such as safe staffing ratios — for short-term and long-term acute-care hospitals in the United States; protect direct care registered nurse as patient advocate, create registered nurse education grants, and living stipends to recruit and retain direct-care registered nurses.

To create a hospital nursing service environment that will immediately attract new RNs and provide the foundation for ultimate restoration of the hospital direct RN workforce; and

To establish clearly defined, legally protected and enforceable duties and rights to direct-care registered nurses as advocates exclusively for the interests of patients.
Whistleblower protections that encourage patients, RNs and other healthcare workers to notify government and private accreditation entities of suspected unsafe patient conditions that will greatly enhance the health, welfare, and safety of patients.

The essential principles of staffing in the acute-care hospital settings must be based on patient’s individual acuity and needs; severity of conditions; services needed; and complexity surrounding those services.

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I'm just wondering if there is any direct care RN left out there who might be unsure about the benefits of belonging to the largest all RN union and professional association in the country? The formation of National Nurses United is really positive and significant news for the profession of nursing and the patients we serve. NNU was founded by RN organizations throughout the country who want to pursue to pursue a more powerful agenda of collective patient advocacy that promotes the interests of patients, direct care nurses, and RN professional practice.

Of course we advocate for our patients everyday at the bedside, but in these times it's really important that our strong, collective and unified voice as advocates is heard in the state and federal legislatures. Together we will be working to secure passage of state and national legislation for RN staffing ratios and other basic protections for RNs and patients, and meaningful healthcare reform based on a single excellent standard of care for all. Also we will stand united to expose and block hospital industry efforts to undermine RN professional practice in legislatures, regulatory agencies, boards of nursing and at the bedside.

In a nutshell that means we're fighting for "RATIOS, RIGHTS, AND REPRESENTATION". It's not a dream, it's legislation that was introduced last May by Senator Barbara Boxer: S1031 "The National Nursing Shortage Reform and Patient Advocacy Act". Nurses can read all about it here.
It's a beautiful thing, and it's about time!

Direct care RN here who is fairly well convinced that the national union, is not a very good idea. Since any rational discussion which is anti-union will be edited or deleted, that is all I have to say.