Ask yourself, who do you trust to make decisions about who should be allowed to practice nursing in your state? Do you trust your state’s nursing board, or would you trust an organization with little oversight and a comfy relationship with corporate sponsors such as big pharma? That question is central to our discussion today. RN and Nurse Practice Specialist for National Nurses United, Michelle Mahon joins us for this podcast.

Try as elected officials might to pledge allegiance to both corporations and to people, it won’t work that way. Not anymore.

As leaders in the grassroots movement for single payer, registered nurses are looking forward to Medicare for All’s role in the coming election. America has not yet had a presidential election at a time when Medicare for All was a household concept. We’ve never yet started a presidential election cycle with 70 percent of the American people supporting Medicare for All.

National Nurses United RNs are fighting to protect Florida’s drinking water with a ban on all forms of fracking for oil or natural gas in the state. The nurses joined other environmental activists on February 2 in Bradenton, Fla. for a rally to urging state Senate President Bill Galvano to vote in favor of a ban.

Ginnelle Stewart, an ICU registered nurse and NNU member, spoke at the rally about the public health hazards and the high human costs associated with fracking. 

The long journey toward transforming our health care system to ensure that all our nation’s people get the care they need is entering its next major phase.

In the coming days, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, with dozens of House co-sponsors, is expected to introduce an updated version of a House Medicare for All bill, a significant step toward a real reform that is now favored by up to 70 percent of Americans.

For the first time, following the House turnover in November, the prospects for real action in the House on Medicare for All look promising.