So nurses, what is our role now? Unity?

[murphychen]

Hey nurses - I am putting this out there, we will have a specific role as nurses as we see that the next administration is going to change or replace ACA/Obamacare. Our nursing voices should be at the table, our profession will have a role (and now I am thinking about nursing's legacy, when have we not played a major role) to be watchful and to advocate against potential changes that legitimizes the active discrimination of our patients (for example limit the rights & respect of LGBTQ families & patients), that will increase barriers to women's health & their access to reproductive health care, and impede our movement forward towards more equitable, accessible, affordable and universal health care for all. I plan on doing what I can to go to Nurse's Week in Washington D.C. in 2017 - I need to be there, I need to see what is going on with my own eyes and ears, and network with nurses who want to get stuff done at that level, and vent over happy hour about what we can do and stand for. Please reach out to me, if we can network together and what we can do, if not just in our states, cities or in our work places. I don't know really where to start, but I have a passion to start somewhere. Right now I am have nothing concrete in my back pocket. (have a few brain stormed ideas) But I have an appetite to marinate on this more and see where I fit in. Maybe you do too?

I think nurses being active and vocal and involved here is our profession's legacy, for the health and quality of life and dignity of patients & our communities, and the health of the natural world that we rely on. As some of you can already probably guess from the things I say, I am more left leaning and that is true on some things – especially health care.

I am reaching out here with this post, to connect with people to think like me and more importantly people who think differently than me. I keep hearing and readying all this stuff about unity and the divide here in America, and yeah I think that is real. I am real tired of the demonization, the divisiveness, the disenfranchisement, the arrogance, the toxic vitriol, the assumptions, the inability to listen and hear each other – if you are tired too and interested in connecting, and figuring out what this means for us nurses together? Message me. I am done with the toxic stuff, so don't come at me sideways and don't assume because I seem liberal that we will agree on everything. Let's talk and awkwardly muck around and do this unity thing to get things done for patients, and the healing that seems to need to happen in this country.

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

Moved to Nursing Activism / Healthcare for more nursing-related discussion.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

Nurses worldwide have a proud history of political activism in advocating for our patients, public health, and the welfare of all people.

In the United States the ANA has accomplished a lot:

http://www.nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/AboutANA/History/BasicHistoricalReview.pdf

Nurses achieved state registration and licensing to protect people from uneducated and untrained people holding themselves out a nurses. Only those with an RN, LPN/LVN are nurses under the law.

Nurses were instrumental leaders in women getting the vote, stopping child labor, and public health.

I am certain nurses will continue to work for the health of us all.

Some may be interested in an event happening in D.C. this coming Thursday:

First Broad Post-Election Rally – Thursday, DC Sen. Bernie Sanders to Join Day of Action | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Kudos to you OP!! Our political arm is ANA. I believe that working with your local and state nursing association is the most effective way to mobilize. I've been a tri-level member (local, TNA & ANA) for years. There's a lot going on.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

If you want you can watch live stream video of the D.C rally:

Together, we'll share support for an agenda that creates good paying, environmentally friendly jobs, rejects the threat to privatize Medicare, champions climate action, and calls for an end to threats against people of color, women, and LGBT people that have escalated since the election.

We'll also celebrate the apparent defeat of the fatally flawed Trans Pacific Partnership agreement—and visit members of Congress in D.C. (as well as in several other cities) to speak out against the Ryan proposal to privatize Medicare.

Nurses will always stand up for healthcare for all!

Join in the November 17 Day of Action!

Watch the Livestream Here (1 p.m. ET Thursday) >>

[Buyer beware, BSN]

It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury

Signifying nothing.

Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5)

We have met the enemy and he is us.”

[elkpark]

It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury

Signifying nothing.

Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5)

We have met the enemy and he is us.”

And your point is .... ?

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Not to be difficult, but I'd like to remind us all that nurses are not a monolith, and we don't necessarily believe the same things. We support quality patient care; some of us just differ on how that goal ought to be accomplished. Also, the ANA doesn't speak for all nurses, and that's OK---it's still a free country, and every nurse is allowed to have her/his own opinions.

Getting down off my soapbox now. Carry on!

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

I agree with you about nursing needing to have a voice. United we stand, divided we fall. I have started with my union and hope to network out to the state capital.

[elkpark]

Not to be difficult, but I'd like to remind us all that nurses are not a monolith, and we don't necessarily believe the same things. We support quality patient care; some of us just differ on how that goal ought to be accomplished. Also, the ANA doesn't speak for all nurses, and that's OK---it's still a free country, and every nurse is allowed to have her/his own opinions.

Getting down off my soapbox now. Carry on!

True -- my experience over the years has been that trying to get nurses to agree on anything, large or small, is like trying to herd cats. We are our own worst enemies.

[dddubbu]

RACISM.

I hope that this is the correct place for this post, but I am in need of help.

My brother ( black male working in a town which is 96% white, 3.8% other) who is also a nurse is currently working in the Dakotas and has been there for over a year and loves it there. He confided in me today that two of the CNA workers who work for him spit into his bottle of water when he was away from his desk. He stated that he was "wondering why they were laughing so profusely when he started to drink his water after assisting a patient on his floor". The sad thing is that the two other CNA workers who witnessed the incident did not say anything for a few days, but after careful reflection, they then told my brother and the management what they had witnessed. My brother immediately went to management and they told him to "stop making a big fuss over this". As a result, ONE of the CNA workers has been fired, but the other remains employed there. He has had testing for any possible bodily fluid diseases which he could have contracted, but is still bothered by the incident.

I am so disappointed in what happened because my brother is the one who encouraged me to become an RN to help others, but I have reservations now about possibly working in "rural areas" because of what happened to him. I am currently in a large metropolitan area and have not experienced this type of behavior (at least not yet). I treat ALL of my patients the same no matter what race, nationality, gender, or sexual preference ( I am in an area with a large"alternative" lifestyle population). In my opinion 'PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE' no matter what they look like or believe.

PLEASE let me know what avenues you may suggest for my brother to explore. He nor I want this to be "swept under the rug" because as healthcare professionals, I CAN NOT tolerate this type of behavior to no matter who it may happen.

Please advise.