ANA Nurses Join with President Obama in Support of Health Care Reform
President Barack Obama and ANA Board Member Barbara Crane, RN, CCRN
ANA was given numerous opportunities over the last month to send members from around the country to events with President Barack Obama to demonstrate their strong support for the President and his goal of achieving meaningful health reform. One such event occurred on March 3 when ANA Board Member Barbara Crane, RN, CCRN stood with President Obama and other health care providers on stage at the White House.
ANA and Pennsylvania State Nurses Association (PSNA) member Danielle Calabrese, RN, MSN who attended the March 3 event at the White House had this to say:
As a nurse, I bring a different perspective to the dialogue about how American’s Health Care Delivery System delivers care. I believe it is critical that we strengthen the ties between those who practice and policymakers seeking to reform the health care system. Nurses must be engaged in the dialogue. We must be at the tables and if we are not, it is not just nurses that lose. Our patients lose because the discussion doesn’t benefit from expertise and knowledge of nursing.
As nurses, it is all our responsibility to be engaged and involved in health policy issues.
At the March 10 event in St. Charles, MO, ANA/Missouri Nurses Association (MONA) member and University of Missouri faculty Kristin Metcalf-Wilson, MSN, WHNP-BC, DNPc was inspired:
I have always participated in the ANA and Missouri Nurse Association’s efforts to promote the nursing profession and lift restrictions placed on APRN practice. I continue year after year to encourage nurses to get involved in the political process and become advocates beyond the bedside. As the largest healthcare profession, ANA has the potential of influencing the future for our patients, our profession, and the communities we serve. You can imagine that I jumped at the chance to meet President Obama. The speech was truly inspirational. The group was energized and ready to go forward and deliver the message. As the president was departing the gymnasium, I introduced myself and told the president that as a nurse and representative of the ANA, we supported his efforts in health care reform. His words to me were, “You’re a nurse? I love you guys.” What a thrill! I am encouraged by the latest outcome in the legislative process. My hope is it will encourage legislatures to move forward in future health care policy that supports the public.
In addition to the White House event on March 3 and 10 in Philadelphia and St. Charles, nurses attended rallies in Strongsville, OH; Fairfax, VA; Iowa City, IA; and Portland, ME.
ANA Government Affairs Staff
Tags: health care reform, March 2010, Missouri Nurses Association, MONA, Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, President Barack Obama, PSNA, White House
