Dear Colleagues:
When nurses come together, we do great things.
That was especially true at our biennial conference in Las Vegas: "Nurse Leadership for Healthcare Quality and Justice." Nearly 300 SEIU nurses were kept busy connecting, inspiring and learning from each other over the course of three days.
We heard from New York Times contributor, Theresa Brown, RN, and Deputy U.S. Surgeon General Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, RN, on the importance of using our trusted voice to advance standards of care in our facilities and communities.
We also earned continuing education credits attending sessions on topics ranging from health and safety, to nurse-driven quality and staffing initiatives, to forging a path for economic and racial justice.
Members were inspired by the stories of Las Vegas fast-food, home care and child care workers, and RNs who have been on the front lines fighting for $15 minimums in their cities and their own contracts.
We agreed that the notion of "What happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas" didn't apply to us. We planned to take what we learned to our own local unions, including commitments to share ideas on the first national online collaboration about the future of the profession. We also pledged to support the Nov. 10 Fight for $15 actions.
I was touched by the passion stories that so many of us shared--what inspired us to be in this profession we all so dearly love and what drives us to take action on behalf of our patients and our communities.
2016 promises to be a busy one. SEIU nurses are needed to help lead on healthcare justice, quality and equality. Are you ready?
In Solidarity,
Dian Palmer, RN
Chair, Nurse Alliance of SEIU Healthcare
National nurse-to-nurse conversation
What if they wore our scrubs? Last call for ideas and comments in online collaboration
SEIU nurses have been engaging in the first-ever online collaboration about the future of nursing. The Idea Forum is a way to connect to each other regardless of where you live or your practice setting answering: If you were the head of your hospital, clinic or healthcare organization, what would you do to improve nursing?
Lots of great ideas--such as mentoring novice nurses and shifting the point of view of nursing as a cost center--need action plans.
The conversation is closing soon, so please weigh in now to have your ideas and comments considered for the final report.
Don't delay. Go to http://nursealliance.mysocialsphere.com/.
The Affordable Care Act
Get ready for healthcare: Open enrollment from Nov. 1, 2015, to Jan. 31, 2016
For decades, SEIU nurses have been at the forefront to promote, pass, and protect the Affordable Care Act, making it the law of the land in this country.
Our work has helped 16 million Americans gain the security of affordable healthcare coverage, more than any time on record. For workers such as Kim Thomas, a home care provider and Fight for $15 activist in North Carolina, Obamacare has made a real difference to providing basic needs for her own family. "Having affordable health insurance helps me stay above water in a world that seems to be pulling working people below the surface at every turn. I work very hard just to ensure I will not sink."
Open enrollment takes place from Nov. 1, 2015, to Jan. 31, 2016. Now's the time to encourage neighbors and loved ones to re-enroll or get covered, shopping for the best affordable care options at the Healthcare Marketplace.
Poll: The Affordable Care Act is here to stay
SEIU and Community Catalyst released a poll of likely voters in five battleground states, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Overwhelmingly, likely voters believe the Affordable Care Act is here to stay (64 percent) and Congress should work to improve the law (71 percent).
Voters were also highly supportive of expanding Medicaid to close the coverage in their state.
The vast majority of voters in Florida (72 percent) want their state to accept federal dollars to cover families through Medicaid. Likewise, a large majority of voters in Nevada (83percent), Ohio (81 percent), and Pennsylvania (80 percent) agree with their state's decision to expand Medicaid.
What We're Reading
Not just a nurse http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/201...
Kentucky case could support laws for safe staffing http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20151024/M...
A lot still to learn about Ebola http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/10/1...
Sick of going to work sick http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/851202?src=wnl...
Hospitals requiring more advanced degrees http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/851202?src=wnl...
Fewer hospitalizations for diabetic patients under the care of NPs http://www.medicaldaily.com/patients-diabetes-may-...
