National Nurses United, the nation’s largest organization of registered nurses, today expressed dismay and alarm over the federal budget deal announced yesterday, saying it will perpetuate the harmful effects of austerity, especially with so many in Main Street communities continuing to feel the painful effects of the Great Recession caused by Wall Street speculation.

The seniors and nurses of the Keep Manteca Safe Committee are applauding the announcement by the California Alliance for Retired Americans that the senior advocacy group will host the “Town Hall on Cuts & Closures at Kaiser-Manteca Medical Center” today, Dec. 11th, from 1-3 p.m., at the Manteca Transit Center, Moffat Blvd. at S. Main St. “We welcome the opportunity to be heard,” said committee member Jackie Rudy, a resident of the Woodbridge by Del Webb retirement community in Manteca. “These cuts and closures are causing real harm to seniors and people throughout the area.”

Braving freezing rain and snow that shut down parts of the federal government, registered nurses at Providence Hospital in Washington, DC Tuesday night became the first non-union hospital in decades to vote to join a union.

UCLA Medical Center First Hospital to Support Campaign. While many families are busy in December holiday preparations, a group of registered nurses – including Paolo Montenegro, a Burbank, Ca. resident who works at UCLA Medical Center – are getting ready for their own special gift – heading to the Philippines to provide medical support for those who continue to be affected by aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.