Are you ready?

sunnygirl272 · Aug 28, 2002

the una will be doing this as part of their nurses' congress in may if i am not mistaken....we actually lobby...

olnursie · Aug 28, 2002

Tell me about your organization.

sunnygirl272 · Aug 28, 2002

click the emblem in my other post...it's under the AFSCME umbrella...they have a nurses' congress QO yr..last time wasin chicago, the time before was in washingtondc and we actually lobbied... at that time we lobbied for needlestick legislation, etc....go to the link and look...

melinda

-jt · Aug 29, 2002

and all who really put out the effort for patient care every day, meet at their state capitol with a list of well thought out proposals

for change and make our needs known?

Then, a day that we all converge on Washington DC with our

well proposed national agenda for health care reform. >

Nurses have been doing that for some time. Thats why the lawmakers are paying attention & how we're getting so much accomplished. But more nurses could partcipate. There are RN Lobby Days nationwide during Nurses Week where nurses across the country have organized rallies & lobby visits at their state Capitol. And there have been RN Lobby Days in DC where nurses came together from all across the country to do the same in DC with their Federal Legislators. 2 yrs ago, the UAN/ANA held one in DC in June (several of the posters from here participated), this yr SEIU held one in DC where before their lobby visits, the nurses brought hundreds of clocks to the Capitol to tell the govt its time to address the nursing situation. Last yr, they lined the steps of the Capitol Building with thousands of pairs of nurses shoes & told Congress FILL THESE SHOES! These things are working.

And lets not forget the big nurses march that stopped midday traffic right in the center & thru washington DC at lunchtime one weekday in 1995. There were thousands upon thousands of nurses from Alaska to Florida - marching for pt care & safety - in their white uniforms - some with caps & their old Florence Nightingale capes! (I even went and bought a nurses cap to wear for that one). :)

It was a great day & the start of this nurses movement.

nightingale, RN · Aug 29, 2002

Last yr, they lined the steps of the Capitol Building with thousands of pairs of nurses shoes & told Congress FILL THESE SHOES! These things are working.

Love that one jt... that would make such a pretty picture on the front page!

Forgive my ignorance; the UNA is more labor based then or a separate affiliate for nursing issues?

B.:)

-jt · Aug 30, 2002

United Nurses of America (UNA) is a nurses division of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Labor Union and affiliate of the AFL-CIO. Its an active RN/LPN labor union and represents 60,000 registered and licensed practical nurses. Its affiliate union in Los Angeles - United Nurses Associations of California (UNAC) - is the nurses union that is suing Tenet Corp in California for millions of dollars in back wages for thousands of nurses that Tenet did not pay for working thru their breaks.

From its website: "Through UNA, RNs and LPNs can increase their knowledge and be involved in the decisions that affect the profession of nursing."

http://www.afscme.org/una/index.html

The other poster had good info about the lobbying efforts of that organization.

Similar in name but a different organization that I referred to in my post about Lobby Days is the United American Nurses (UAN). (Notice the slight difference in the names). The United American Nurses (UAN) is also an affiliate of the AFL-CIO as well as an affiliate of the ANA. It is the national labor union for RNs only - and represents over 100,000 union RNs nationwide.

From its website: "Through the United American Nurses (UAN), Registered Nurses have an equal decision-making partnership with their employer/management; have the protection of nationally accepted practice standards; the ability to improve patient care; the right to negotiation of wages, benefits, and working conditions; effective, proven methods for arbitration and grievance procedures; and a voice in state legislatures, governors' offices, the U.S. Congress, and the White House."

http://www.uannurse.org/uan/uaabout.htm

The one that did the Lobby Day with the FILL THESE SHOES slogan was another labor union entirely - Service Employees International Union (SEIU)/1199. It represents RNs, LPNs, and most other healthcare workers. Powerful photos of the rally with the nurses shoes lining the steps of the Capitol Building can be viewed at its website: http://www.nursealliance.org

nightingale, RN · Aug 30, 2002

Thanks jt...

B.