Large group of nurses inside holding banner "California Nurses Association"

About CNA

Founded in 1903, the California Nurses Association is a premiere organization of registered nurses and one of the nation’s fastest growing labor and professional organizations in the U.S. with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California.

Collage of nurses

CNA 101

Your guide to joining the RN movement. Learn more about our program, our history, and how we are organized.

CHEU

CHEU

The Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union is an independent union formed in 2001 by hospital employees to win strong union representation, better benefits, and improved conditions for employees and patients. It is an affiliate of CNA.

Press releases

Large group of nurses outside holding signs "Safe Staffing NOW", "Recruit, Retain, Respect RNs", and "Nurses are the heart of patient care"

San Joaquin County nurses to hold informational picket for safe staffing

Registered nurses across San Joaquin County will hold an informational picket at San Joaquin General Hospital in French Camp, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 19. They will protest management’s failure to meaningfully address their contract demands for improved patient safety and recruitment and retention of experienced nurses.
AVMC nurses at informational picket

Antelope Valley Medical Center nurses strike averted

Registered nurses at Antelope Valley Medical Center in Lancaster, California, will not move forward with a planned November 19 strike, as nurses reached a tentative agreement yesterday with AVMC management on a new union contract.
Four nurses inside hospital, smiling, holding signs "Patients Before Profits" and "Our Community, Our Hospital"

Registered nurses vow to hold Tenet accountable after passage of Measure AA

Registered nurses who are employed at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, Calif. and members of California Nurses Association issued a statement in response to the passage of Measure AA.
Group of six nurses outside hospital, smiling, holding signs "Nurses are the hear of patient care"

Nurses at Antelope Valley Hospital give 10-day notice they plan to hold unfair labor practice strike

Registered nurses at Antelope Valley Medical Center in Lancaster, Calif., gave notice to their employer that they will hold a one-day unfair labor practice strike on Nov. 19 after management’s failure to bargain in good faith, retaliation against nurses, and excessive delays during contract negotiations.
All CNA press releases

Organize with the California Nurses Association to improve workplace standards through collective bargaining, reform national health care legislation, and make a difference for you and your patients.

Videos

2024 California Nurses Association lobby day

Hundreds of registered nurses rallied and marched in Sacramento, Calif. before meeting with legislators about nurses’ key issues and priority legislation.

Safe Staffing Ratios Protect Patient and Nurses

Safe RN ratios have been proven to improve the quality of care and nurse recruitment and retention in California hospitals, yet understaffing is a major issue RNs struggle with every day. Together, we can change that.

See all videos

National Nurse Magazine

National Nurse magazine July-August-September issue cover

Shot in the Arm: NNU nurses inject values of care, compassion, community into presedential election, endorse Harris-Walz

Winning Big

How UCLA’s PPC stopped the practice of doubling patients in single-occupancy rooms

Public-sector RNs fight back

CNA nurses are speaking out, standing up for patients, their communities, and themselves

Permanent Damage

Because our government and employers failed to protect nurses, thousands of us will struggle to live with Long Covid for the rest of our lives, jeopardizing our livelihoods and careers.

Full Issue See All Issues

Campaigns

Nurses inside hosptial hold signs "Safe Staffing Saves Lives"

California Safe Staffing Ratios

A.B. 394, the CNA-sponsored safe staffing law, has multiple provisions designed to remedy unsafe staffing in acute-care facilities. California’s safe staffing standards are based on individual patient acuity, of which the RN ratios is the minimum.

Nurse inside car displaying sign "CalCare"

CalCare

The California Nurses Association is proud to sponsor Assembly Bill 1400, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act (CalCare), which would guarantee comprehensive, high-quality health care to all California residents as a human right.

Sign "Nurses Heal California"

Supported California Legislation

CNA is committed to building a broad movement for transformative social change and confronting the powerful interests that dominate our economic and political system. Learn more about our supported and sponsored California legislation.