Founded | 2009 |
---|---|
Headquarters | Oakland, California |
Location |
|
Members | 225,000 [1] |
Key people | Bonnie Castillo (Executive Director), Deborah Burger, Zenei Cortez, Jean Ross (Presidents) |
Affiliations | AFL–CIO |
Website | www |
National Nurses United (NNU) is the largest organization of registered nurses in the United States. [2] [3] [4] With more than 225,000 members, [1] [5] it is the farthest-reaching union and professional association of registered nurses in the U.S. Founded in 2009 through the merging of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, the United American Nurses, and the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the NNU focuses on amplifying the voice of direct care RNs and patients in national policy. The union's policy positions include the enactment of safe nurse-to-patient ratios, patient advocacy rights at the Executive and State level, and legislation for single-payer health care to secure "quality healthcare for all, as a human right." [6] The organization's goal is to "organize all direct care RNs into a single organization capable of exercising influence over the healthcare industry, governments, and employers." [6]
The executive director of the national organization, which is affiliated with the AFL–CIO, is labor leader Bonnie Castillo, who also heads the 90,000-member California Nurses Association. [7] The former executive director is RoseAnn DeMoro, who serves as National Vice President and Executive Board Member of the AFL–CIO.
The organization backs a Medicare for All single-payer healthcare plan for the United States. [8] [9]
To support a single-payer system, NNU leadership mobilized large-scale demonstrations demanding single-payer healthcare be included in the platform at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. [8]
National Nurses United has held numerous protests, including one in front of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and another on Wall Street, [3] to protest privatization and profiteering in the health care industry.
NNU supports a tax on financial transactions, which the organization says could raise at least $350 billion a year. [10]
In The New York Times on January 28, 2016, Nicholas Confessore reported, "According to Federal Election Commission records [NNU's] 'super PAC' has spent close to $1 million on ads and other support for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. [11] The NNU spending was classified as "Expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate." [12] In 2019, NNU officially endorsed Sanders for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. [9]
Founded in 1999, it only represented registered nurses (RNs). [13] In 2009, UAN merged with the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee and Massachusetts Nurses Association to form NNU. [6]
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) voted to join NNU as an affiliate in October 2022, increasing NNU's total membership to nearly 225,000. [5]
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare, including hospital, home care and nursing home workers; public services ; and property services.
Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system.
The Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) is a health care labor union in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that represents registered nurses and other health care workers in hospitals, nursing homes, blood banks and clinics in the public and private sector. It is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the AFL–CIO.
The Medicare for All Act, also known as the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act or United States National Health Care Act, is a bill first introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Representative John Conyers (D-MI) in 2003, with 38 co-sponsors. In 2019, the original 16-year-old proposal was renumbered, and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced a broadly similar, but more detailed, bill, HR 1384, in the 116th Congress. As of November 3, 2019, it had 116 co-sponsors still in the House at the time, or 49.8% of House Democrats.
PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital is a hospital in Los Angeles, California. The hospital has 408 beds. In 2019 Good Samaritan joined the PIH Health network.
The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) is a labor union in Pennsylvania that represents about 8,300 nurses and allied health professionals.
The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), an affiliate of National Nurses United, is a labor union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States. Since 2018, CNA/NNOC has been led by Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN.
Healthcare reform in the United States has a long history. Reforms have often been proposed but have rarely been accomplished. In 2010, landmark reform was passed through two federal statutes: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), signed March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which amended the PPACA and became law on March 30, 2010.
Healthcare-NOW! is a non-profit grassroots coalition in support of the single-payer health care movement for the United States. Healthcare-NOW!'s stated goal is to implement the Medicare for All Act.
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An accountable care organization (ACO) is a healthcare organization that ties provider reimbursements to quality metrics and reductions in the cost of care. ACOs in the United States are formed from a group of coordinated health-care practitioners. They use alternative payment models, normally, capitation. The organization is accountable to patients and third-party payers for the quality, appropriateness and efficiency of the health care provided. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an ACO is "an organization of health care practitioners that agrees to be accountable for the quality, cost, and overall care of Medicare beneficiaries who are enrolled in the traditional fee-for-service program who are assigned to it".
RoseAnn DeMoro is the former executive director of National Nurses United and the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee and a former national vice president and executive board member of the AFL–CIO.
Our Revolution is an American progressive political action organization spun out of Senator Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign to continue its work. The organization's mission is to educate voters about issues, get people involved in the political process, and work to organize and elect progressive candidates. Our Revolution is also the title of a book by Sanders released in November 2016.
The People for Bernie Sanders is a grassroots movement that arose to support the candidacy of Bernie Sanders during the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign. People for Bernie, independent from the official campaign and largely organized via social media, grew to over 1 million followers on Facebook. Founded by Occupy Wall Street participants, People for Bernie Sanders became a major organizing force for progressive figures during the 2016 presidential campaign, responsible for coining the hashtag #feelthebern. People for Bernie is closely linked to other progressive groups like National Nurses United and Democratic Socialists of America.
Kimberly Ellis is an American activist and was the Executive Director of Emerge California from 2010 until she ran for the Chair of the California Democratic Party in 2017. Ellis is considered a progressive Democrat and formerly served on the California Democratic Party Finance Committee and also on the California Democratic Party's African American Caucus as Recording Secretary. Ellis ran for the Chair of the California Democratic Party in 2017, losing to party insider Eric Bauman.
An election for the chairmanship of the California Democratic Party was held on May 20, 2017 to succeed outgoing John Burton. 2 candidates, Eric C. Bauman and Kimberly Ellis, contested for the position. Bauman was elected as Chair of the Party.
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Travis Nelson is an American politician and nurse serving as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives from the 44th district. He assumed office on February 1, 2022. He is the first openly LGBTQ+ man of color and the first openly LGBTQ+ African American to ever serve in the Oregon Legislature.
Whole Washington is a statewide universal healthcare advocacy organization in Washington state that advocates for universal single-payer healthcare for Washington and the United States of America. Whole Washington is a 501(c)(4) organization and has campaigns for statewide single payer healthcare in Washington via both the state legislature and statewide ballot initiative. It is also a supporter of single payer at the federal level through Medicare for All as introduced into the US Congress by Pramila Jayapal in the House of Representatives and Bernie Sanders in the Senate.