Here we go again, the C.N.A. has spent their members’ hard earned money that they take in as dues to produce (CNA Flyer1) a high-gloss hit piece on yours truly. My oh my how I must frighten the C.N.A., this handicapped, little old lady from Pasadena.

So when I saw the piece that they’re passing out at Huntington Memorial Hospital I felt compelled to respond – since as so many nurses have come to learn from past experience, many members of the C.N.A. like to play fast and loose with not just the rules, but with the truth as well.

First – IStandWithHuntington (ISWH) are the Huntington Memorial Hospital nurses that feel that they don’t need the C.N.A. to represent them. The IStandWithHuntington blog is an alternative voice to the C.N.A. message/propaganda. Nurses whose opinions differ from those backed by the C.N.A. have the right to speak their mind and get their message out and they have chosen to do so – even though it means fending often scurrilous attacks from the C.N.A. “war machine”. They express their opinions, viewpoints and so forth on their blog.

Second – Did I help the ISWH nurses – darn tooting. I contributed to their cause by securing the IStandWithHuntington domain name and offered it to them for their use. They run and have full control over their blog. This isn’t illegal, the ISWH nurses have the right to freedom of speech, just as the C.N.A. members have and for the record Huntington Memorial Hospital hasn’t spent a dime in securing, purchasing or hosting this blog.

Third – The C.N.A. really does need to go back to school if they think I’m a professional union buster. Professional is defined as – a person engaged in a specified activity as one’s main paid occupation rather than as a pastime. I’m not paid to help nurses who want to get their union-free message out. Nurses call, write and email me when they want advice on how to get their message out, on how they can even the playing field and what not. I listen to them and if I think I can help I do what I can do, there’s a whole network of us who believe that nurses can effectively advocate for themselves, without union representation.

Fourth – They’re great about listing my administrative positions that I’ve held over the years, but conveniently leave out that I’m a RN and that I’ve spent more years at the beside as first a Pediatric nurse and then a PICU/NICU nurse than I have in administration. But then again if they did that they might actually provide folks with the impression that I’m a nurse and not some boogey man “union buster”, because nurse = good and union buster = evil, don’t you know.

Fifth – It’s no secret that I don’t support the RN-to-patient ratio, because I support the far superior patient acuity system. Title 22 and Joint Commission mandates an acuity-based system because nurses aren’t workers on an assembly line and patients aren’t widgets. I believe that nurses give the best care when patients are assessed based on the complexity of their illness, care needs and so forth and then matched to the nurse that has the skills, education and training to best meet those care needs – after all that’s why I became a nurse. And I think that’s why most of you became nurses, as well.

Ask yourselves this why does the C.N.A. feel the need to play so fast and loose with the truth, why do they resort to innuendoes, and cast aspersions? This is the union that says they want to represent you and yet they appear to show utter contempt of your fellow co-workers who chose to exercise their to freedom of speech and simply put their message out as well. The ISWH nurses have spent their hard earned money on their effort and whether you agree or not about joining or not joining a union the ISWH nurses are deserving of some modicum of respect. I think their blog has strived to keep their tone civil and information fact based. So just to be clear I’m not about union busting, as the C.N.A. likes to suggest, but I’m am about making sure that these nurses who want to have their message heard get the opportunity to be heard.

The C.N.A. loves the scorched earth technique in dealing with those who disagree with or oppose their viewpoint; do you? Do you want to be associated with a group that feels entitled to denigrate others in our profession because we don’t chose to follow their rhetoric? As nurses we are charged with advocating for our patients, so how can we be expected to advocate for our patients if we can’t even advocate for ourselves? I’m proud to be a RN. You’re welcome to call, write or email me.