Throughout the August recess, thousands of nurses, doctors and healthcare workers across America signed medical scrubs in support of healthcare reform. Over 10,000 scrubs emblazoned with the message "Every Patient Matters" carry personal stories like this one from Jennifer Solovay, an ICU nurse from Northridge, California:

"I know of patients playing 'doctor' meaning, they would literally cut their blood pressure pills in half to stretch the medications simply because they cannot afford it. It's the choice of putting food on the table or buying expensive medicine."

On Wednesday, September 23, nurses, doctors, and SEIU healthcare workers will join Dennis Rivera, Dr. Toni Lewis and activists in a rally on Capitol Hill to deliver the hand-signed scrubs to members of Congress.

You can RSVP to this event, in Washington DC, by clicking here.

Following up on his address to Congress on Wednesday, President Obama spoke to a group of nurses gathered in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Thursday morning. The President was joined by 54 Nurse Alliance of SEIU Healthcare RNs, as well as members of the American Nurses Association.

The participating SEIU members came to DC on very short notice from locals all over the country, including United Healthcare Workers East (New York and Maryland), SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, SEIU Healthcare Michigan, 1199 New England (Rhode Island and Connecticut). The RNs said they felt honored to represent SEIU at an event focused on such an important issue and thrilled to be involved in such an intimate gathering with the President.

Doctors, nurses and other health care workers provide comfort and care to some of the sickest Americans, rarely able to leave their posts for any period of time because lives are at stake. As a result, their voices have been largely absent from the debate around health care reform.

But, through the Scrubs campaign "Every Patient Matters," healthcare workers around the country have been able to send their message to Congress. Check out this video from Prince George's Hospital Center in MD to see what they said:

During his long career, Sen. Kennedy distinguished himself as a staunch supporter of nurses and healthcare workers around the country. On Wednesday, as the nation mourned the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy, nurses from Local 1199 at Prince George's Hospital Center in Maryland took a moment out of their day to reflect on the Senator's legacy.

The PGHC nurses expressed both their sadness over the Senator's death, but also the need to carry on his dream and renew our efforts in fighting for what Kennedy called the "cause of my life": healthcare reform.

Over the past month, members of Congress have returned home to hear the voices of their constituents through town hall meetings. They've listened to patients' stories, which illustrated so clearly why America can't wait for health care reform. But they've also heard from people who've twisted the facts and distorted the truth.

Every nurse, doctor and healthcare worker has a story: Now, they need to hear healthcare stories from front-line caregivers and other healthcare workers about their patients, their families and even themselves.

SEIU, as part of the Partnership for Quality Care, is sending surgical scrubs to nurses and health care workers across the country. We're asking them to write their stories on the scrubs and send them to Washington. At the end of the month, we're going to welcome Congress back to Capitol Hill by delivering the stories that have been written on scrubs to their offices.

Sign up now to receive your scrubs: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/scrub

The scrubs we've already collected, like one from a nurse in Nevada, show the clear need for health care reform. She wrote that after being diagnosed with severe kidney disease, she was almost driven into bankruptcy by the cost of her treatment. Though she has insurance now as an SEIU member, she is still trying to pay her previous medical bills. Others wrote about their patients who delayed care until it was too late, or were unable to receive any care at all because of their insurance situation.

Join thousands of nurses and health care workers and share your stories today: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/scrub

Americans--health care workers in particular--know that there is too much at stake to put reform off. That know that being forced to choose between filling your prescriptions and filling your refrigerator isn't a choice anyone should have to make. Make sure that your member of Congress knows that as well.

Quick hits: Around the union this week...

• Tea-bagging conservatives continue blaming SEIU for perpetrating the violence surrounding a St. Louis health care town hall--but now you can finally hear both sides of the story. Listen to SEIU staffer Reverend McCowan's interview correcting the record on incidents surrounding a Missouri town hall.

• Spread the truth about the right-wing's fear campaign being funded by anti-healthcare forces: SEIU counters "death panel" noise with real facts about healthcare.

• SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger took the main stage at the Netroots Nation Convention this weekend to talk about building a 21st century economy that works for all Americans. More here about other SEIU panels at the annual gathering of progressive activists and political bloggers.

• Watch three short videos of Workers United members who are dealing with John Wilhelm, UNITE HERE's raids, and interference in their workplaces.

• "We spend more time at patients' bedsides than anyone else in the hospital, and have a better understanding of patient needs than hospital executives. Despite this, our executive officers essentially refuse to include us in discussions regarding patient care." In a Billings Gazette op-ed, registered nurse J. Curt Jensen makes the case for why nurses and all Montana workers need the Employee Free Choice Act.

• Will American children grow on "fat, salt, and corn-sweetener-laden government subsidized surplus"? Read Iowa City chef Kurt Michael Friese's commentary at Grist Magazine.

• Check out the story of a Detroit college freshman fighting to stay in the U.S. and find out how you can help defer her deportation.

• Major advertisers like Geico, Proctor and Gamble, and Lexis Nexis are pulling their ads from Glenn Beck's show in response to his disgraceful rhetoric...but not Wal-Mart! Tell Wal-Mart to end their financial support of Glenn Beck's televised hate.

• Be a part of SEIU's mobile alert list. Text SEIU to 787753 (PURPLE) right now, or click here to sign-up for our new mobile alerts program.

Judy Lanza, a labor and delivery nurse for 25 years, knows firsthand the damage that our current health care system has caused. Although Judy works in a New Hampshire clinic that provides affordable treatment for pregnant women, she sees women every day without health care insurance. Often, she will hear about women who go to private clinics and pay $1,000 to $1,500 in out-of-pocket costs for necessary medical treatments.

Our system is so broken that even pregnant women are not guaranteed quality, affordable health care. Activists like Judy Lanza are speaking out because they can no longer tolerate the inequity built in to our current system. Judy is not being paid to speak out, and she does not work for the government. She has no incentive to speak out other than her own moral conviction that health care reform is right. That's true grassroots activism.

When it comes to something as personal and important as health care, we've got to be extra careful that we get the facts right - click here to get straight facts on the President's plan to fix health care.

Front-line caregivers see the results of our broken healthcare system everyday. They see too many patients lose coverage because they lost their job. They see patients who bought insurance on their own for years suddenly unable to afford it. They see sicker patients and more crowded ERs.

That's why nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers across the country have launched the Every Patient Matters campaign with the Partnership for Quality Care to ensure the voices of frontline caregivers and the stories of their patients are heard in the debate over healthcare reform.

Providers are partnering with their hospitals and healthcare facilities to sign surgical scrubs with stories and messages about our broken healthcare system and why healthcare reform is needed.

Here's one message from SEIU District 1199 New England member Wendy Laprade, a nurse at Woman and Infants Hospital in Providence, RI.

"Woman and Infants is where almost all Rhode Islanders enter the world and we see firsthand the impact that SCHIP and RIte Care has made in getting prenatal care for woman and newborns here in our state. Good preventative and primary care saves money for the system and results in better quality of life for the patient. We need to extend this to ALL of our people. That is what this debate is about."

Rep. James Langevin will join members at a scrub signing event in Rhode Island in early September.

And in Nevada, SEIU Local 1107 members launched their campaign this week at Catholic Healthcare West St. Rose Hospitals. Already, they've signed nearly 200 scrubs with story after story illustrating why healthcare reform is critical to improving patient care.

When lawmakers return to Washington next month, nurses, doctors, and other caregivers will deliver tens of thousands of these signed scrubs to the Capitol with one simple message: Every Patient Matters. Pass Healthcare Reform Now.

In the movement to fix health care, we've just entered into a new phase. Health care legislation passed huge hurdles in the House and Senate last week, and experts predict a full vote within weeks. The New York Times declared, "this is a bill worth fighting for," but threats to this legislation appear to be growing with each day.

Because of this, Dr. Howard Dean has issued an emergency conference call on Wednesday, July 22 at 6:30 p.m. ET with nurses and doctors to discuss elements of the House and Senate bills, and how they will impact health care professionals. Most importantly, Dr. Dean wants to talk directly to nurses and doctors about the role they must play during this critical moment.

Are you a nurse or doctor? If so..... Click here to join the call.

In the fight to fix health care, Dr. Howard Dean is a stand-alone figure. A doctor, governor, and currently, a vocal advocate for a public health insurance option--Dr. Dean has brought fresh ideas and leadership to the often stale air of Washington, D.C. For the past year, he's been rallying Americans to band together to fix health care - and now he wants to talk to you.

President Obama recently said, "few understand why we have to pass reform as intimately as our nation's nurses." It's true. We see the emergency room care, the short-staffing of nurses and aides, the burdensome amount of paperwork, and the denial of coverage by insurance companies. We're the eye witnesses to the best and worst of our health care system - and now it's our job to speak up.

With nurses and doctors working together, there's no limit to what we can do. RSVP for this week's call with Dr. Dean: http://action.seiu.org/drdean

Beginning today -- July 1st, 2009 -- mandatory overtime is a thing of the past for any healthcare worker in Pennsylvania providing direct patient care. This victory is the culmination of a 7-year struggle by nurses and other healthcare workers who repeatedly marched, called, emailed and lobbied their legislators to support this important patient safety legislation.

With the exception of true emergencies and unforseen events, the law protects all nurses and health care providers from discipline by their employers for refusing to work overtime. Nurses and other caregivers will no longer have to worry about making mistakes or falling asleep while driving home because we had to work over our regularly scheduled shift. This is a monumental day for patient safety in Pennsylvania.

SEIU Healthcare PA has been working to educate caregivers on the legislation and how to implement it at their facilities. Now it's up to our hospitals, nursing homes, State facilities and other health care employers to begin adhering to the new law. If you have questions about how the law is being followed at your facility, you can fill out this form on the SEIU Healthcare PA website. Read more about what is covered in the legislation and how it applies to your facility by downloading Your Guide to Act 102.

This week, hundreds of RNs flooded our nation's capitol, many of us with several decades of experience in patient care. We left our families and communities because this year - 2009 - is the year that Congress can finally fix our broken health care system. And it can't happen without nurses.

On Wednesday, I joined with hundreds of nurses to lobby members of Congress about the issues we face at the bedside. As nurses, we're able to speak to issues the general public doesn't know about--understaffing, mandatory overtime, nurse training and education and more.

The National RN Day Of Action on May 13th turned out to be an incredible display of unity for all nurses and the patients we care for. While we were on the hill, we heard from staffers who'd received calls into their offices from nurses the following week. (See SEIU Blog post, "On National Nurses Week, We're Calling a Code On Our Healthcare System")

Thanks to your calls, Congress knew that nurses had an important role to play in health care reform. It was history in the making and I'm so excited that I had the chance to be a part of it!

Below are photos taken of the event: www.flickr.com/photos/valuecarenurses/

Janelle Manigault is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) at St. Petersburg General Hospital (HCA) and a Vice President of SEIU Healthcare Florida's Health Systems Division.

Hundreds of nurses from SEIU, CNA and UAN convened in Washington, DC today for a national RN day of action. Nurses attended a morning full of workshops and panels on issues such as building the national nurses movement and banning mandatory overtime, before proceeding to a mid-day march and rally in Upper Senate Park to emphasize the need for comprehensive health care reform.

From the rally, the nurses headed to Capitol Hill to advocate for their larger legislative agenda, which includes increased quality of care, healthcare that's accessible to all Americans and the need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to strengthen the ability of nurses and other employees to fight for improved patient care standards.

Speakers for the event included CIR/SEIU Healthcare president Dr. L. Toni Lewis, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who announced she would introduce a bill addressing items on the national nurses legislative agenda including minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, whistle-blower protections and increased funding for RN education.

On Friday, SEIU Florida Healthcare nurse Patricia Diaz joined U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and a team of Spanish-speaking Administration officials from DHS and the CDC for a White House Town Hall to listen to the Hispanic community's concerns and discuss the government's safety and prevention plans to control the impact of the H1N1 virus.

"Today was a transformative day for me. I got to attend the White House's first townhall meeting entirely in Spanish. It shows how much our President wants to reach out to everyone and make sure information reaches all communities about the H1N1 virus," said Diaz. Hosted by Univision Anchor Edna Schmidt, parts of the town hall aired to more than 13 million viewers on Univision's national news show.

» Read more about the town hall and SEIU nurse Patricia Diaz's participation here.
» Watch the full video, read the full transcript in Spanish or the President's remarks in English.

Working to Stop Pandemic Threat: Get Resources for Rront-line Workers and Families at Risk

To answer key questions about H1N1 and the swine flu, the SEIU Nurse Alliance Health & Safety Committee prepared facts sheets and an "employer check list" to allow healthcare workers a quick way to assess their worksite's readiness. Read about the differences and similarities between swine flu and seasonal flu, using infection control to prevent spreading the flu in healthcare settings, and get the response plan checklist at SEIU.org.

I'm getting a little tired of National Nurses Day being treated like another Hallmark holiday.

I know I'm not alone; I've been talking to the RNs in my hospital about this. So, we've decided today isn't going to be like any Nurses Day before it. This year, you can keep your flowers and candy. This year, RNs are demanding something real. We're calling a code on our broken health care system.

Click here to help us take back National Nurses Day: www.seiu.org/RNs2congress

One member of Congress, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) has always gotten how important nurses are to fixing health care. And she's asking RNs to make sure her colleagues get it, too:

"You are on the frontline of our failing medical system, so you know where we can cut waste, how we can eliminate bureaucracies, and what it will take to improve care.

Nurses are the most trusted messengers in this upcoming debate, and your voices are critical in shaping reform and ensuring its passage."

Will you help me call a code on health care? Dial toll-free 1-866-210-3678 to be connected to your Senators' offices. Click here to learn more: www.seiu.org/RNs2congress

I decided long ago it's not only my responsibility, but also my duty - to my patients and my fellow nurses - to stand up and lead in the fight for quality, affordable health care.

I hope you share that same sense of duty. If you do join me in calling a code today. Call 1-866-210-3678 to connect with your member of Congress. While you're on the call, click here to see a sample script and a report-back form on our website.

Thanks for speaking out for your patients,

Cathy Glasson, RN
Value Care, Value Nurses

P.S. If you're looking for a little inspiration, check out this video of Linda Bock at the White House. It's moments like these that National Nurses Day are all about.

"The true test of this bipartisanship process will be how we handle the details," said Senator Charles E. Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, last week in a Mason City, Iowa, health forum including panelists from AARP and SEIU. Speaking about competition between insurance companies, Local 199 member and RN Mary Burke commented, "I think competition would actually be meaningful if we have a public health care system. If you don't have everybody insured, we're still going to have the problem."

Later that day, Sen. Grassley posted on his Twitter account:

Had a v. good mtg in Mason City tlkg health care rfrm. Iowans gve me lts of fdbck. Thanky AARP and SEIU and NFIB.

Read more: http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2009/04/10/news/local/doc49dec7d59480a973355829.txt

Nurses in the Detroit area are celebrating a $13.6 million settlement reached with St. John's Health System in a class action lawsuit brought to expose attempts by area hospitals to hold down wages for nurses despite an ongoing shortage of RNs willing to work in acute care hospitals. "This [is] good news for everyone in Detroit who looks to these hospitals to provide quality care. Patients get better care when nurses have the staffing we need to meet their needs," said RN Cathy Glasson of the Nurse Alliance of SEIU.

According to a report by the Institute for Women's Policy Research commissioned by the Nurse Alliance of SEIU, over 1.2 million nursing positions will need to be filled nationally over the next five years. The report shows that the shortage may be due in part to artificially low wages caused by collusion among hospital employers. This settlement is an important step towards ensuring fair compensation for the nursing profession and helping to solve the nurse shortage crisis.

"By helping to ensure competitive methods for setting RN wages, we can attract more new nurses to the profession, bring non-practicing nurses back to the bedside, and improve patient outcomes," said Anne Jacobs-Moultrie, a registered nurse and VP of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers. Ensuring competitive wages for nurses would also benefit hospitals in the long-term by allowing facilities to meet their staffing needs without resorting to mandatory overtime or expensive temporary nurse agencies.

At the White House's online town hall yesterday, SEIU nurse Linda Bock thanked President Obama for giving her the opportunity to be heard and offer a front line perspective of the health care crisis. Bock expressed the importance of nurses having a voice in the solution to fix health care, to create a system that puts caregivers in charge of the decisions that affect their patients to ensure the high-quality of care.

The President also had a few words to say, expressing his appreciation for all the hardworking nurses who are there "around the clock" to provide the best care possible for their patients. Calling nurses the backbone of the country's health care system, Obama admitted, "I'm biased towards nurses, I just like nurses." He went on to address the problems facing caregivers in this country today and why we must fix healthcare now.

The landmark lawsuit filed by Detroit nurses over efforts by hospitals in their area to collude to hold down wages for RNs is moving forward. Federal Judge Gerald Rosen rejected arguments from Mount Clemens General Hospital in Michigan that the landmark suit has no merit and ordered the case to proceed.

"This puts us one step closer to giving direct care nurses a more powerful voice about how our profession deals with the chronic shortage of nurses working in hospitals. Nurses, our patients, and their families will all be better off when nurses' hard work is valued and more nurses can remain in their careers," said Cathy Glasson, RN, of the Nurse Alliance of SEIU. Read SEIU's statement here.

Note: Mike Kingsbury is an RN and a Grassroots Lobbyist through SEIU's Change That Works campaign. You can read more about the program here.

Mike Kingsbury snapped this photo of AIG CEO Edward Liddy testifying before Congress.

In the packed hearing, I listened as Congressman Barney Frank asked for - and Mr. Liddy declined to provide - names of the AIG executives who received bonuses. When pressed under threat of subpoena, he resisted, suggesting their lives would be threatened by the general public "if only we could get our hands on them."

Mr. Liddy, we are not an angry mob. We want justice, not blood. And, yes, we want the names of those whose million-dollar bonuses we all paid. We don't want to "string them up," we want to ask them what they know about shared sacrifice. The woman waiting in line with me at the hearing told about how, when things got rough, she lived on crackers and cheese and peanut butter. For most Americans, shared sacrifice doesn't mean giving up our European vacation - most of us have never been to Europe.

So, yes, give it back - every last dollar of the bonuses, every last dime of the bailout. But if, at the end of the day, all the money is paid back, all the criminals are prosecuted, AIG is on its feet again, but we still have the same system that caused this to happen - we still bailout banks but let workers lose their homes and their health care - I will still be mad.

I don't expect a million dollar bonus. I want a choice about whether to have a union. I want affordable health care. I just want to live in a country that works for working people.

While I'm glad I saw the beginnings of that in the hearing yesterday, I also saw the possibility that business might try to give us a "sacrificial offering," and hope we are appeased.

I know I won't be.

From our nation's capital,
Mike Kingsbury, RN

Iowa Congressman Tom Latham and Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin introduced a bill on Thursday aimed at easing the debt burden on nursing students and combating America's nursing shortage.

According to a release from Congressman Latham's office:

Nurses who enter the program would be eligible to receive a loan repayment of up to $40,000 to obtain a master's degree, which is the basic requirement to become a nurse educator, or up to $80,000 to obtain a doctorate nursing degree.

Last year over 118,000 nursing jobs in the U.S. were left unfilled, and the Department of Health and Human Services has projected the nursing shortage could exceed 1 million by 2020. SEIU, with over 80,000 nurses and more than a million health care workers, has signed on as an early supporter of the bill.

"[The] legislation helps to address the faculty shortage by providing a loan repayment program for current students enrolled in graduate nursing programs and advanced degree nurses who have recently graduated," said SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger in a letter to Latham and Baldwin. "We commend this much-needed endeavor to offset high educational debt in order to become nurse faculty."

You can hear Congressman Latham answering questions about the proposed legislation here.