I stood in the doorway and watched my 15 y.o. behavioral psych. patient. She sat cross legged on the stretcher, hands tightly clenched in her lap, head down and eyes closed…rocking back and forth. A loud,continuous hum escaped through her throat…not a song kind of hum…but a static sound of humming.

She came to us after being kicked out of her foster home for aggressive behavior and suicidal language and she now is boarding with us until a new home or psych hospital bed opens up for her. Because of her suicidal language all of her belongings were removed from her and she was in our blue hospital scrubs, on a watch with security and in the behavioral health section. The areas is small, has a TV, a bathroom and small area to walk around—no windows.

Hour 90 was upon us and she was melting down. As I watched her, my heart broke. This child was alone—her life story is of abuse and neglect—and now once again she is alone…Life isn’t fair for this child!

Earlier that day I silently prayed for her and I sat and talked with her. She liked to write and to draw, listen to music and take long walks. Read more…

Nurses and the Campaign for a Healthy California are traveling in a bus to promote Medicare for All. Along the way we are doing health screenings in the communities we visit. We’re asking the public to “Tell Us Where It Hurts” with regard to their healthcare.

Here Joan Potts and Myra DeTate tell us about their struggle to obtain health care. Interviews are part of the Campaign for a Healthy California and Nurses Campaign to Heal America.

Get the full bus tour schedule at: www.NursesHealAmerica.org Read more…

My cancer won’t wait and doesn’t care about what nine robed judges in Washington, DC, say about healthcare. Cancer doesn’t care. Obamacare. Romneycare. No matter. Cancer doesn’t care. But the nurses do.

Unrelenting and not fearful of any CEO’s rage or the loss of a political contribution, cancer, illness and injury march on. It is with that sort of fearless and unwavering force that the nurses of National Nurses United and the patients for whom they advocate are advancing the cause for healthcare justice.

We’re on the road in California bringing the message that it doesn’t really matter what the Supreme Court announces about the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that we all purchase private insurance or pay fines for not doing so.

I know, I know. All the hoopla. All the drama. All the buildup by the Republicans and the Democrats and the media falling all over themselves to say what the Supreme Court’s ruling means for November’s presidential election. But you know what? My cancer doesn’t care.

It doesn’t matter which way the Supremes take this. So long as the private insurance giants are in my life and in my body, those insurance companies do what they do to keep their costs down and make money. Read more…