Nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers spend their days providing life-saving medical care. But, as they are busy working with patients at hospitals across the nation, the fight over health insurance reform rages on, often without them.

The voices of these legions of healthcare workers must brought back into the reform debate. That is one of the main goals of the Partnership for Quality Care, which includes 1.1 million SEIU healthcare workers and the nation's leading healthcare providers. In order to advance that goal, PQC launched the "Every Patient Matters" Campaign, which culminated today with a rally on Capitol Hill.

"Every day, healthcare workers see how a broken system makes it harder for them to deliver quality care," PQC Chairman Dennis Rivera said during this afternoon's rally. "We can't afford to wait to fix our healthcare."

In August, healthcare workers around the country were asked to sign surgical scrubs with their healthcare story and their call for reform. Today, hundreds of these scrubs were brought back to Washington, DC and displayed in front of the Capitol during a rally featuring Sen. Harry Reid and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. After the rally, these scrubs were delivered to members of Congress, urging them to listen to the voices of those working on the front lines of healthcare in America.

"Every Patient Matters is more than a slogan. It is a mission that brings us to work every day," SEIU Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry said during the rally.

Other SEIU leaders also spoke urgently about the need for healthcare reform. Dr. Toni Lewis, President of the Committee of Interns and Residents, reaffirmed that doctors are just as committed to reform as the nurses, who have been at the forefront of the scrubs project. Additionally, Nurse Alliance President Diane Palmer underlined the SEIU nurses' belief that healthcare is a basic right, one which is not being met in America today.

During one of the most moving moments of the rally, 30-year nursing veteran Donnetta Miller from SEIU Nevada presented a signed scrub to Sen. Reid. During his statement, prior to the scrub presentation, Reid noted that, just like the President, he too has a deep admiration and respect for nurses.

"I admire and respect the healthcare delivery workers, especially the nurses," he said.

To further show their support for healthcare reform, a number of SEIU members attended the event, traveling from near and far. Debbie Wilkes, a member of Local 1199 from Maryland, came to the rally because she works in a newborn intensive care unit. She wanted to make sure that Congress heard her message: the children she works with not only need healthcare reform today to help them get better, they need it for the rest of their lives to make sure they stay healthy.

Denice Bischofberger, who came from 1199 NW in Seattle, also wanted to share her message with Congress: "Don't let us down."

To see more photos, check out our gallery from the event!

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.

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 a town hall meeting on Monday, Senator Harry Reid showed his support for health care for all Americans by donning a scrub top from the Scrubs project.

Rah Abdullah, RN at UHS Valley Hospital and an SEIU NV board member, gave the top she signed to Reid, whom she met with in late June during her visit to DC. The event was very well attended, with 50 SEIU members as part of a crowd of over 500 concerned Nevada residents.

The following day, members of SEIU Local 1199NW presented a whole pile of signed scrubs to Rep. Jim McDermott.

The group of SEIU nurses from two area hospital thanked him for his work on healthcare reform, and asked him to continue the fight for real reform when he gets back to DC. Each nurse presented Rep. McDermott with their own signed scrub and shared their own healthcare story, and then presented a stack from other nurses and healthcare workers in the area.

SEIU District 1199 also got in on the Scrubs action when the OFA bus tour rolled into Columbus, OH.

District 1199 was able to get 72 scrubs signed before the rally, which featured SEIU RN Barb Montgomery.

Medical students a Brown University in Providence, RI also joined the Scrubs campaign by writing their stories on scrub tops as well.

One student wrote this sentiment his signed scrub:

"I work at a clinic where patients who are otherwise uninsured become eligible for care by lottery. BY LOTTERY! Unbelievable. We can do better."

Tell Congress that fixing health care comes first.

This weekend, Iowa saw a different kind of town hall forum.

At the Macbride hall, on the University of Iowa campus, dozens of signed scrubs were displayed with messages of support for health insurance reform--and painful stories of hardship because of our current health care system.

Signed by health care providers from the various University of Iowa hospitals and clinics, these messages are from people on the front lines: people who deal with sick patients and their families every day. Patients who, under our current system, do not get better, but worse.

Across the country, nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers 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.

Since the national launch of "Every Patient Matters" campaign with the Partnership for Quality Care the second week of August, numerous SEIU Locals with members working in health care facilities have already held scrub-signing actions at health care facilities their members work at.

Last week at Whidden Hospital in Everett, MA, members of SEIU Local 615 and Local 1199 joined together to sign scrubs.

When lawmakers return to Washington in September, nurses, doctors, and other caregivers will deliver tens of thousands of these signed scrubs to the Capitol to ensure the voices of front-line caregivers and the stories of their patients are heard in the debate over healthcare reform.

Looking to get involved in the Every Patient Matters campaign? Let us know.

The Partnership for Quality Care (PQC) is a national labor-management coalition committed to ensuring quality, affordable healthcare for everyone in America. It includes public, private, religious, teaching and nonprofit hospitals nationwide and integrated health systems; and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Our members care for more than 60 million patients annually.

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.

Two new TV dramas about registered nurses - Nurse Jackie on Showtime and Hawthorne on TNT - premiere during the month of June. They join a host of TV programs that are set in hospitals, such as Grey's Anatomy, House and Scrubs.

The portrayal of the medical profession on TV: I've heard this topic discussed on more than one occasion by people going through residency themselves, or that work in a hospital. They've all said that Scrubs--unlike many other medical TV shows--does capture the training process, the profession, and the essence of a hospital setting with surprising accuracy. On the surface, Scrubs may seem like 30 straight minutes of slapstick comedy, absurd fantasy sequences, and slightly inappropriate jokes. However, the show is also about what happens at hospitals between life-and-death crises--the thought processes and insecurities of being a young doctor in training, the way doctors and nurses handle ordinary cases and never knowing what kind of case will come through the doors.

Tell us what you think: Do any of the programs accurately depict the lives of healthcare workers, and is your situation reflected in any of these programs? Share your opinion in the comments section (below).