Guaranteed Healthcare

By Donna Smith

PORTLAND, Maine -- Today we've been through Connecticutt, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.  And as you might imagine, at that pace, we aren't exactly wasting time on the ground.  Every stop, every step is one taken to reach toward our objective:  educating our fellow citizens about healthcare reform and about HR676, single payer, guaranteed healthcare for all.

Seems like we end up reaching lots of people in diners and coffee shops where they don't really seem to mind too much if a nurse walks up to offer some information and then engages in conversation about the problems related to healthcare that everyone has in within their families or circles of friends.

Today we joined with nurses from five states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York and California.  The RNs share common frustrations about what they face every day in being advocates for their patients, and they share the goal of making sure the system is fixed before thousands more patients die.

Everybody in the diner needs healthcare: cooks, wait staff, owners, customers.  All are sure to find that if they give these nurses a moment, they'll be much better informed about the best way to clean up the mess in this nation's for-profit healthcare system.

We shared lunch with other labor folks also working to spread the word during this election season.  Though some citizens seem a bit campaign-fatigued in some ways -- especially in the battleground states -- most are still more than willing to take a peek at the RNs report cards on healthcare reform and learn a bit more.

Generally, citizens are energized and anxious to get on with the election and then continue their work on the issues they find most important.  But in recent days, along with some challenging interactions with a very few folks who have closed minds and hearts, nurses have been able to break through all the noise with their message. 

Tomorrow, Bangor, Maine... as we embrace nurses in Maine and reach out to folks still wondering what to think about all the women in red scrubs getting off that big, shrink-wrapped bus, and why these nurses care enough to travel so far.