RNs: “Politics as Usual is a Public Health Crisis”

In the countdown to Sunday's Democratic debate, National Nurses United’s #BernieBus, which has traveled through early primary states, facilitating conversations between nurses and voters about public health crises in local communities, will be stopping in Flint today.

“The tragedy of Flint’s water crisis is part of a spectrum of suffering nurses see in our patients—often the poorest members of the community, often minorities—all across the country,” said Myriam Calvache, RN, of Chicago. “In Chicago’s south side, patients are living near the petcoke piles, in Richmond, California, coal trains are spewing toxic dust into poor neighborhoods, and in Detroit, we know asthma rates are three times the national average because of the incinerator. Bernie Sanders is calling for corporations to put public health over private profits, and given the suffering nurses see every day, we resonate with that call.”

Calvache and other nurses have volunteered to travel with the #BernieBus through Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and other states, often spending time in underserved communities, in solidarity about issues impacting the health of everyday people.

FLINT: SUNDAY, MARCH 6

The RNs today will travel to Flint. Along the way, their stops will include Metropolitan Baptist Church for a donation of nursery water and baby care products (930 E. Myrtle St.), North End Soup Kitchen (735 E. Stewart Ave.), Woodside Church (1509 E. Court St) and more—before heading to the Democratic debate at Whiting Auditorium(1241 E Kearsley St.).

Please call Kari Jones, 510-207-4829 day of, for exact locations and times.

OHIO: MONDAY, March 7

The #BernieBus makes its Ohio debut in Cleveland on Monday to conduct voter outreach as we lead up to the state’s March 15 primary.

Provisional Bus Schedule for the coming week:

Tuesday, March 8 - ClevelandWednesday,
March 9 - Cleveland and ColumbusThursday,
March 10 - Dayton
Friday, March 11 - Cincinnati

Please call Andy Pontious, (206) 819-0320 to confirm bus itinerary

“’Tell us where it hurts’ is the nurses’ refrain, right? The bus draws people over for conversations about the issues impacting their lives,” said Jean Ross, RN, co-president of National Nurses United, who is traveling with the bus. “It’s absolutely devastating what’s happening in Flint. And unfortunately, environmental racism and classism are impacting patients across the country. Nurses are standing up in this election to say ‘Enough!’  Bernie’s calling for Medicare for all, and he has the strongest platform to address the economic, racial and environmental injustice that are sickening and killing Americans.”

National Nurses United is the largest union of nurses in the country, with 186,000 members in 50 states—and was the first national union to endorse Sanders, in August, 2015.