Nurses Association Carries Political Clout
… No one is more aware of the political power wielded by nurses than Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's taken on the nurses twice and lost both times.
The nurses union sued Schwarzenegger when he tried to make them care for more patients at once. New regulations required one nurse for every five patients, instead of one to six. The governor claimed it would be too expensive and wanted to postpone the increase for four years.
Deborah Burger, RN, California Nurses Association: "The nurses job doesn't just stop at the hospital door."
Deborah Burger is president of the California Nurses Association and an RN at Kaiser in Santa Rosa.
Deborah Burger: "We were told we couldn't win when we went out to take him on. We were told that we were crazy that we were fringe, a fringe group."
Burger was one of the nurses who used an unorthodox method to get their message out. They followed the governor everywhere he went -- to eight states, holding 107 rallies…
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...t_7&id=4608672
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