We work hard to provide the best possible care for our patients.
But sometimes…
It takes a LAW.
By using our collective political strength and contributing to our Union’s voluntary political fund, we’ve won important Nursing laws.
1999 2000 2009 2010 2011 2014 2017 2019 2020
1999 |
Nurse-to-Patient Ratios |
Our Nurse-to-Patient ratio bill (Assembly Bill 394; Kuehl-D) was signed into law in October of 1999 by Governor Davis. To this day, California remains the only state in the country with nurse-to-patient ratio regulations for every acute care hospital unit.To learn more, visit bit.ly/121RN_RatiosHistory |
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2000 |
Needle Safety Law |
Again leading the nation, SEIU RNs in California fought for and won state legislation in 1998 (Assembly Bill 1208; Migden-D) requiring OSHA to amend its Bloodborne Pathogens Standard. This paved the way for the national regulation signed into law by President Clinton in November 2000 that requires hospitals to provide preventative and protective equipment to eliminate or minimize exposure to contaminated sharps.Visit bit.ly/NeedleLaw to relive the amazing timeline of our long fight for needle safety. |
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2009 |
Affordable Care Act |
27 million Americans gained health insurance through the ACA, with access to quality, affordable coverage. Americans with pre-existing conditions, like high blood pressure or asthma, gained protections against insurers charging them more or denying coverage altogether.To learn more, visit bit.ly/ACA_121RN |
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2010 |
Aerosol Transmissible Disease Standard |
SEIU Nurses here in California won the nation’s first workplace standard designed to protect healthcare and other workers from aerosol (airborne and droplet) transmitted diseases.To learn more, visit bit.ly/121RN_ATDhistory |
2011 |
Safe Patient Handling |
Governor Brown signed this landmark legislation (AB 1136, Swanson-D) in 2011 and it took effect in 2014. RNs and other hospital workers fought for this new standard, which aims to limit the staggering number of workplace injuries suffered when lifting, repositioning and transferring our patients. The law requires hospitals to protect healthcare workers from back and musculoskeletal injuries, while also protecting our patients.To learn more, visit bit.ly/121RN_SafeHandling |
2014 |
Workplace Violence Protection |
SEIU Nurses in California again led the nation with the country’s first comprehensive law to prevent workplace violence against healthcare workers (SB 1299, Padilla-D). Healthcare and social service workers are 500% more likely to experience violence on the job than any other worker in the U.S. In this campaign to win a Cal/OSHA standard, we exposed just how bad it is by sharing our own experiences.To learn more, visit bit.ly/121RN_WPVhistory |
2017 |
Whistleblower Protection |
This important law (Assembly Bill 1102, Rodriguez-D) increased fines to up to $75,000 for employers that retaliate against RNs and other healthcare professionals when we report unlawful assignments that put patient safety and our licenses at risk.To learn more, visit bit.ly/121RN_WhistleblowerProtection |
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2019 |
Stop Repeat Offender Hospitals |
Twenty years earlier, we won nurse-to-patient ratios in California. This new law (Senate Bill 227, Leyva-D) finally gave us an enforcement mechanism to discourage repeat offender hospitals that ignore those regulations.To learn more, visit bit.ly/SummarySB227 |
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2020 |
PPE stockpile mandate |
SB 275Senator Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) and Senator Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) worked with us to author SB 275, designed to avoid future catastrophic shortages of PPE.To learn more, visit SB275 |
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Protect workers affected by COVId-19 |
SB 1159Early in the pandemic—at our urging—Governor Newsom signed an Executive Order to protect those of us who contract COVID-19 from unscrupulous employers who deny we caught it on the job. His temporary executive order shifted the burden of proof from the worker to the employer, who can only deny the benefits under strict, proven conditions.The executive order was retroactive from March 19, 2020—but it expired on July 5, 2020.SB 1159 corrected that. The assumption that healthcare workers contracted COVID-19 on the job is now a law.We worked with Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) to introduce this bill, which codified the Governor’s executive order. The Governor signed SB 1159 into law on September 17, and went into effect immediately, retroactive to July 6, 2020. |
To pass strong Nursing laws, we need to elect lawmakers who share our vision for safe, quality Nursing.
In today’s rapidly changing, corner-cutting world of healthcare and politics, we need leaders who will join us as a counterbalance to increasingly corporatized hospitals that focus more their financial bottom line than on patient safety.
More than ever, we need to make sure we elect leaders to local, state and national office who understand the need for good Nurse and patient legislation and policy.
Join with your colleagues and contribute to our voluntary fund for...
Nurse-Powered Politics!
Money influences politics. And nothing influences politics more than BIG, corporate money. Make no mistake, our employers are very large donors. Their contributions go to candidates whose platforms favor their unsafe-corner-cutting-for-profit agenda. As RNs and Healthcare Professionals on the front line of patient safety, we know what that agenda does to our hospitals and our patients.
It's unsafe.
As individuals, we can’t compete with BIG, corporate money. To make sure we have a voice, we contribute to our Union’s voluntary Nurse-Powered Politics Fund, also called the Committee on Political Education (COPE).
Because we pool our money together, we’ve helped to elect “Healthcare Heroes” who have championed the important Nursing laws featured here.
We make significant progress to improve our profession and patient safety in our Union contracts and important committees in our hospitals. But many decisions about our work are made at the state and federal government level. We need as strong a voice in these government decisions as we do in our hospitals. Standing together by getting involved in our ‘Nurse-Powered Politics’ program gives us that voice. That’s why I’ve participated in lobbying, joined our Union’s voter turnout efforts and contribute monthly to our voluntary political fund.
Joyce Powell, RN
In the past several years, Joyce has gone on eight lobby trips to help pass important Nurse and patient safety legislation, attended several other events where she met legislators and spoke up about important Nurse issues, wrote to and called elected leaders to advocate for strong nursing laws and has contributed to our Nurse-Powered Politics Fund (COPE) since 2013.