Imagine if the tens of millions of nurses in the world start working actively together with the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, 16 percent of the planet’s population, on confronting the health consequences of climate change and environmental degradation.

And, jointly pressing all nations – including the most recalcitrant, our own – to accept healthcare as a fundamental human right.

That’s the goal of a petition campaign we’ve started seeking an audience with leaders of Global Nurses United with Pope Francis during his visit to the United States in September. Sign it online at http://www.congressweb.com/nnu/19.

GNU, of course, is the global federation of 20 unions of nurses in 18 countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe, including NNU, all of whom have been leading voices in their countries in fighting for healthcare justice, from pollution to the climate crisis, to the work for universal, guaranteed healthcare for all.

What precipitates this call for an audience with Pope Francis is the remarkable encyclical on the environment issued by the Vatican in June.  (It can be read in full at http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html)

Much of the press attention on the encyclical singled out one flamboyant line: “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.”

Sadly, true enough. But there is far more. Pope Francis acknowledged the alarming rise of associated health hazards that nurses, including NNU members, have spoken out about for years.

“Some forms of pollution are part of people’s daily experience,” the Pope wrote. “Exposure to atmospheric pollutants produces a broad spectrum of health hazards, especially for the poor, and causes millions of premature deaths. “There is also pollution that affects everyone, caused by transport, industrial fumes, substances which contribute to the acidification of soil and water, fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and agrotoxins in general.”

That’s certainly not news to NNU members, who have been in the forefront of nationwide protests against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, petcoke mounds in Chicago and Detroit, toxic spills in Michigan and Arkansas, tar sands oil trains, polluting refineries in Long Beach and Richmond, Calif., and so many other locales.

Additionally, the encyclical noted, “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political, and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”

Again, that is in concert with the work of GNU members who have marched across the Golden Gate Bridge, testified in Congressional hearings and before local governments from coast to coast, and been a leading voice on the climate crisis.

Why? We know that climate disruption has been linked to a wide range of health problems associated with the unexpected spread of contagious disease including Ebola, cholera, bird flu, dengue fever, yellow fever, and other epidemics; malnutrition linked to drought and deforestation; bacteria-related food poisoning; and the escalating occurrence of super storms.  

And we have warned that fossil fuel pollution, and other environmentally associated contaminants that infect air, rivers, lakes, oceans, and food supply, have been directly linked to dangerous increases in heart and respiratory disorders, cancer, birth defects, skin and gastro-intestinal illness, and other health factors leading to premature death.

Not to mention how the fossil fuel industry, one of the most powerful economic forces on the planet, uses its clout in Congress and in other countries to block meaningful action on reversing the disastrous effects of climate change and reining in the polluters. Their colossal influence is one reason the Pope can observe that “frequently no measures are taken until after people’s health has been irreversibly affected.”

Pope Francis calls “for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all.”

Nurses who are on the front lines in taking care of people whose health is directly compromised by these trends should be a part of that dialogue.

And, it also offers an opportunity to continue our GNU and NNU efforts to press every nation, especially ours, to accept and act on the premise that healthcare is a human right, that everyone should have an equal right to healthcare that’s not based on ability to pay, socio-economic status, gender, health behavior, or country or area of residence. In the United States alone, studies have reported a 40 percent increased risk of death for those without health coverage. Lack of health coverage or excessive costs for care result in numerous adverse health outcomes, delays in needed care, and higher societal costs.

“Our common home is falling into serious disrepair,” said the Pope. “Hope would have us recognize that there is always a way out, that we can always redirect our steps, that we can always do something to solve our problems. Still, we can see signs that things are now reaching a breaking point, due to the rapid pace of change and degradation” that have put major world regions and people now at high risk, he writes.

Together, the moral authority of the Vatican, as evidenced already by Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical on climate change, and the high public regard for nurses offers an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate international efforts to redress these health emergencies.  Indeed, delay and inaction is no longer an option.  

The registered nurses of St. Joseph Health System (SJH) have recently released a new report, “Falling From Grace,” on ethical and patient care concerns at SJH hospitals. A Catholic network of hospitals, established in 1920 by nuns with a mission to heal the sick and needy, SJH has grown into a wealthy corporation with billions in assets, operated by lavishly compensated executives. (According to the most recent SJH tax returns, CEO Deborah Proctor earns $2.05 million per year.) The SJH nurses, whose collective voices are reflected in this new report describe a very different health system today—one that puts patients and nurses at risk.

As reflected in the report, SJH has:

• Reaped millions in tax subsidies from California taxpayers, while providing among the lowest amount of charity care of any Catholic system;
• Reduced patient access to registered nurses, other caregivers, and support staff, leading to unsafe staffing levels and delays in care;
• Invested patient care and tax subsidized funds into for-profit companies, including hedge funds in the Cayman Islands;
• Launched a system-wide campaign to illegally restrict the rights of its RNs to organize a union to advocate for improved treatment of patients and RNs.

Download the report at: SJHFallFromGrace.com

Please help nurses tell SJH to put patients above profits!
Take a moment to send an email to CEO Deborah Proctor expressing your concerns.

America celebrates 50 years of Medicare: 
Parties, pies, and a rallying cry for change

 On July 30, nurses, seniors, elected official, healthcare activists, and more—threw a huge cross-country, 25-city celebration of Medicare’s 50^th birthday. Under the rallying cry “Protect! Improve! Expand!” (PIE), it’s no wonder birthday cake gave way to pie on this landmark day, where community fun mixed with moving testimony on Medicare’s role in making healthcare a human right.

“For many, Medicare—and Medicaid—has saved their lives,” said Karen Higgins, RN and a co-president of National Nurses United at the Washington, D.C. rally. “Nurses at the bedside see the human value of Medicare every day: ensuring that seniors get the care that they need, keeping them healthy, saving them from bankruptcy due to medical costs.”

Check out images from the day, which included: Senator Bernie Sanders’ impassioned speech in Washington, D.C.; a pie contest in Portland, Maine; picnic fun in Lakewood, Ohio; rally in Detroit; and Medicare foe Paul Ryan getting “pied” in Oakland, Calif.; a carnival in Las Vegas; live music in Los Angeles; emotional testimony from nurses and patients—and a thousands-strong overall turnout in cities including Boston, Miami, El Paso, Chicago, Los Angeles and more.

“There is no human right I know that is more important than to say loudly and clearly, ‘Healthcare is a right of all people, not a privilege!’” said Sen. Sanders to the cheers of the crowd in Washington, D.C. “The time has come to say that we need to expand Medicare to cover every single man, woman, and child as a single-payer national healthcare program.”

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate 50 years of essential care for our most vulnerable—and to call for a future where Medicare is expanded to cover all!     

To see more pictures, go to flickr – https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalnursesunited/sets/72157656494849006

On the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction along the Gulf Coast, registered nurse volunteers with the disaster relief program, Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN), which sent hundreds of RN volunteers to provide disaster relief to the region in the wake of the deadly storm, say that critical lessons which exacerbated the 2005 crisis – global climate change, our lack of a national healthcare system, and failure to invest in public resources and infrastructure – have still not been learned.
 
Nurses from RNRN, a project of National Nurses United (NNU), the country’s largest organization of RNs, are back in New Orleans this week to show support for residents of the region and highlight that the problems, which existed 10 years ago, continue to fester.
 
RNs, some of whom volunteered with RNRN post-Katrina, will staff a first aid tent and participate in Katrina commemoration events hosted by Gulf South Rising, a coordinated regional movement of people and groups to highlight how the global climate crisis, and the rising sea levels that come with it, are affecting the Gulf Coast states.
 
“Things aren’t just the same, they’re worse,” said Malinda Markowitz, RN, a NNU vice president who will participate in the events. “As nurses, we always want to get at the root causes of illnesses, and Katrina exposed them all: the socioeconomic inequality, the racism, the lack of access to healthcare, how we’ve defunded our public infrastructure, and how our dependency on fossil fuels has accelerated climate change. On this anniversary, we are again working to build the movement needed to fix these problems.”

RNRN volunteer surveys hurricane damage	RNRN volunteer at Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge, LA

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf and New Orleans flooded, forcing the evacuation of millions of residents and trapping – and sometimes killing – those who remained in the city, RNRN sprung into action to supply volunteer RNs to the affected areas.
 
What nurses learned was that there was no coordinated emergency system to respond to natural and man-made disasters such as this one. Federal, state, and county and municipal agencies all implemented their own plans, which resulted in chaos.
 
Despite the confusion, RNRN was ultimately able to determine the needs of various hospitals and state disaster agencies overwhelmed with the need for qualified medical providers and place more than 300 volunteer RNs in positions where they could fully utilize their skills, experience, and knowledge as registered nurses.
 
In Baton Rouge, La., RNRN sent rotations of nurse volunteers to relieve exhausted staff nurses at Earl K. Long Medical Center, the only public hospital (now closed) in the city where scores of New Orleans evacuees had fled. RNRN also sent nurse volunteers to a number of hospitals and clinics in other parts of the Gulf, and provided a significant percentage of nurses who staffed medical services for thousands of evacuees sheltered at the Houston Astrodome, where many New Orleans residents had been bussed.
 
A decade later, the nation has made little progress in addressing the systemic problems Hurricane Katrina laid bare:
 
Climate change, which results in rises in sea temperatures and likely increased the size and intensity of the hurricane, remains a major global crisis. Despite numerous climate summits and treaties, dependence on burning fossil fuels as the world’s primary energy source continues.
 
A number of countries lag behind efforts to reduce CO2 levels that scientists say must be lowered to arrest and reverse the warming of the earth. Many policy makers in the U.S., at the behest of the fossil fuel industry, continue to oppose robust action to stem the effects of the climate crisis. The earth’s current, identified fossil fuel energy stores – of oil, gas, coal, etc. – are already five times more than scientists say we can safely burn and not risk planetary collapse, and the U.S. is still one of the top two emitters of greenhouse gases.
 
Millions of Gulf residents are still without access to healthcare. While the Affordable Care Act did end some of the worst insurance industry abuses that shut many people out of access to coverage, many patients still cannot afford to use the health insurance they pay for because of the high deductibles and copayments those plans require. And while the Affordable Care Act greatly expanded Medicaid coverage, all of the Gulf states –Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, and Florida – have refused to take advantage of the expansion, depriving their states’ lowest-income residents of needed healthcare services.
 
Investments have been diverted away from public infrastructure and public resources and systems in New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana into privately owned entities. Public hospitals, such as Charity Hospital in New Orleans and teaching hospitals connected to Louisiana State University, were never reopened, have been shut down, or privatized. The New Orleans traditional public school system has been largely privatized and turned into a charter and voucher system.
 
The racial disparity in the post-Katrina “recovery” is especially pronounced. A recent Louisiana State University survey found that almost 80 percent of white New Orleans residents say that the city has “mostly recovered” from the disaster, but some 60 percent of black New Orleans residents say the city has “mostly not recovered.” African-Americans, reports 538.com, are less likely to be working than when the storm hit, more likely to be living in poverty, and the racial wage gap has grown. An estimated 100,000 of the city’s poorest African-Americans have been unable to return.
 
“Those populations that were more vulnerable before the disaster continue to remain the most vulnerable now,” said Bonnie Castillo, RN, director of the RNRN program. “Katrina taught us that these types of services – public housing, education, healthcare, safety – need to be centralized and socialized. Instead, there’s been a real move to decentralize and privatize. Nurses understand that full recover
y