With strikes and other protest actions fast approaching, talks between registered nurses and one of the nation’s biggest hospital and insurance chains Kaiser Permanente stalled Thursday setting the stage for a strike by 18,000 Kaiser RNs Tuesday November 11 kicking off a historic international day of actions on Wednesday, November 12.

Orlando Health registered nurses are hailing a major settlement reached with the healthcare system as a critical win for nurses’ ability to freely exercise their democratic right to organize for a voice in patient care, the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Florida, (NNOC), announced today.

This Thursday registered nurses at Huntington Memorial Hospital plan a rally in an effort to restore quality patient care at HMH and to call on management to implement the highest standard of Ebola preparedness including personal protective equipment and training for healthcare workers.

Taking issue with the $57 million deceptive advertising campaign by the state’s biggest insurance giants, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United has begun a broad radio campaign to inform voters that “real nurses” support Proposition 45 to rein in excessive insurance increases that put patients at risk.

Registered nurses from California to Maine will hold strikes, picketing, and other actions Wednesday, November 12 in 12 U.S. states and the District of Columbia – with possible support actions globally – as the largest U.S. organization of nurses steps up the demand for tougher Ebola safety precautions in the nation’s hospitals.

Following a Congressional hearing Friday morning in Washington on Ebola and the latest confirmed Ebola patient in New York Thursday, National Nurses United said a major gap remains in U.S. preparedness – the failure of the federal government, both Congress and the White House, to mandate all hospitals to implement the highest standards and protocols to protect nurses, other health workers and the public.

Registered nurses at University of California medical centers will hold speak outs Tuesday and Wednesday to alert the public that UC hospitals, now being promoted as priority hospitals for treating any potential Ebola patients in California, are far from prepared, according to the frontline RNs.

Following a day in which leaders of the nation’s largest nurses organization met with California Gov. Jerry Brown to urge his state to set a national model for optimal safety protocols for responding to the Ebola virus, National Nurses United announced it has been invited to testify before Congress Friday on the Ebola threat.