US mega union of nurses formed

CALIFORNIA, United States — The California Nurses Association (CNA) stepped into the national spotlight on the health care debate when the influential organization joined forces with two other nurses’ unions to form the alliance National Nurses United (NNU).

After eight months of planning, the formation of the NNU earlier this week now unifies the voices of 150,000 nurses throughout the country, including the West Coast, Midwest, and parts of New England.

Partnering up with the 83,000 members of the CNA are the two unions, the United American Nurses (45,000 members) and the Massachusetts Nurses Union (23,000 members). Each of the three unions will continue to operate independently from one another, yet have the ability to act as one during any type of negotiations.

Filipino-American Jane Sandoval, a registered nurse the past 25 years at St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco, believes the NNU can be used as a means for recognition.

“I’m hoping that it will be recognized and in the numbers there will be strength,” said Sandoval to FilAm Star. “For the most part, nursing is generally one of the professions that people respect the most.”

At a point in time when many nurses around the country are frustrated with Washington’s resistance to embrace a single payer health care system, the creation of a conglomerate nurses union has the potential to allow the nurses more leverage in setting the agenda on health care policy issues.

This is an agenda that includes providing patients with many care options, and the best possible services available.

Sandoval thinks that with more of a say in matters, the national union will have a bigger forum to provide information and attempt to set laws in motion outside of California regarding nurse-to-patient ratio numbers.

“The number one goal in joining up with the NNU, besides the size, is patient advocacy,” said Sandoval, who works in the emergency room at St. Luke’s. “And California has ratio laws that we’re hoping that we can get the other states to recognize that as well. Because the bottom line is patient safety and patient advocacy and the ratio laws to be applied in every state. That would be the best thing for patient care.”

Sandoval said that the Fil-Am community continues to be impacted by the health care industry, especially those who are nurses.

“There is a very high percentage of Filipino nurses in the Bay Area,” said Sandoval. “The way that health care impacts Filipinos is because…the Bay Area has a high number of not just Filipino nurses but a growing Filipino community whose members are very much family-oriented and are into cultural awareness.” - Nicholas von Wettberg, INQUIRER.net, December 15, 2009