If someone is ill, or seeing a loved one suffering, they want an RN at their bedside. This translates into political power, if we are active. If we're doing things correctly we have a lot to say about who sits as governor, the makeup of the legislature and the composition of the various regulatory boards and commissions. When we do really well in politics, we not only keep what we have won through effective defensive fights, we also have a chance to make gains. Yes, the governor vetoed the latter, but that's why we need to be active in this year's governor's election.
Persistence does produce results .
Consider the over 80 bills in the state legislature this year devoted to regulating managed care. If politics is winning the hearts and minds of citizens, we won that battle and now that the politicians have figured that out, they are likely to pass many of the reforms we pushed. In a new period of nurse shortages, particularly in the area of critical care, it is increasingly obvious that the work load and working conditions RNs face daily make nursing increasingly difficult and less satisfying. Without the ability to adequately care for patients, and no enforceable staffing ratios to ensure patient safety, more RNs will possibly continue to opt out of nursing. That was the message CNA RNs delivered March 2 at a legislative hearing that considered the inadequate number of slots for RN students in the state university system.