Blog

Why I am striking

Everyone in San Joaquin County needs to know why the county’s nurses are striking.

Marisa Lozano, RN

October 9, 2020

Hundreds of union nurses convene online to call for transformative change

To claim our power, hundreds of nurses came together online Sept. 9–12, along with some incredible activists and allies, during the first-ever virtual convention for the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC). The convention, entitled “Year of the nurse,” underscored how deeply our struggles are united, across states, across backgrounds, and even around the world, as we fight for transformative change.

Bonnie Castillo, Executive Director of National Nurses United

September 15, 2020

A clear choice on labor and workers’ rights in November

There are many reasons nurses believe President Trump is hazardous to our health. And from his abysmal failure to stop the spread of COVID-19 and his authoritarian behavior — to racial justice and police violence, health care, the climate crisis, gender justice, and immigration — critical issues for the November election are lining up.

Bonnie Castillo, Executive Director of National Nurses United

September 6, 2020

The HEALS Act Puts Lives at Risk

The benefits keeping people and families in America afloat expired Friday. If Senate Republicans have their way, what comes next would involve these millions of benefit recipients making choices no one wants to make.

Bonnie Castillo, Executive Director of National Nurses United

August 3, 2020

RN Response Network July 2020 Update

RNRN is monitoring the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, which is setting records with Hurricane Isaias being the earliest “I” named hurricane in history. In California, there have already been over 4500 fires, more than twice the average normally recorded at this point in the season.

RN Response Network

August 1, 2020

Lives Are on the line in November.

The COVID-19 deaths in America were not inevitable. They are the result of President Trump and his administration abandoning nurses, other health care and frontline workers, and the public at large.

Bonnie Castillo, Executive Director of National Nurses United

July 24, 2020

This Juneteenth, Celebrating Black Freedom Means Caring About Black Health

“I can’t breathe,” Gary Fowler told three different metro Detroit emergency departments, as he begged for a COVID-19 test. He was dismissed and turned away each time. On April 7, 2020, sitting up in a recliner because breathing was so difficult, he died at age 56.

Bonnie Castillo, Executive Director of National Nurses United

June 18, 2020

Nurses: Protesters Are Our Patients. Stop Attacking Them

As we connect the lines, nurses can see that police violence against protesters spans calendar years, locations, and protest issues; it is ubiquitous. As advocates for public health and safety, we call for an end to this violence.

Bonnie Castillo, RN, opinion contributor for The Hill

June 15, 2020

Nurses are marching for change

Unionism and feminism go hand in hand. Just ask union nurses. Our women-dominated profession stands up against a billion-dollar health care industry every single day, and using our collective power, we win critical protections in our union contract — from fair wages and benefits, to protection from workplace harassment and violence.

Bonnie Castillo, Executive Director of National Nurses United

January 17, 2020

RNRN Sends Nurses to Disaster Areas

When a hurricane turns Category 5 of a massive earthquake devastates a region, it’s a sure bet that the nurses of Registered Nurse Response Network are already recruiting nurse volunteers to help. A disaster relief program sponsored by National Nurses United and California Nurses Foundation, RNRN was organized in 2005 in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which dramatically exposed America’s flawed disaster relief system. RNRN volunteer nurses traveled to the devastated Gulf Coast to help provide care for the hundreds of thousands of people abandoned and without food, water, shelter, medical aid, nursing care, or even a basic evacuation plan.

Eleanor Godfrey, Director, Registered Nurse Response Network

January 15, 2020