National Nurses calls for tax on Wall Street to heal America.
 Texas National Nurses Organizing Committee/NNU, October 18, 2011

 The Texas branch of National Nurses United, the largest union and professional association of direct-care registered nurses in the nation, will be holding a march and rally in support of Occupy San Antonio on Thursday. 

The gathering of nurses from across the state this week marks the fifth anniversary of the formation of the Texas nurses organization which has grown to 2,500 RNs in six hospitals. ... Hundreds

Nurses To Alert Public to Patient Care Issues at Corpus Christi Medical Center.
 RN staffing for newborns, emergency care the focus.
 National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas/National Nurses United, October 3, 2011

 Registered nurses, members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas/National Nurses United - the largest professional association and union of registered nurses in the country, with 170,000 members - will hold a press conference outside Bay Area Medical Center/The Heart Hospital on Thursday, October 6th from Noon-1 PM to call attention to staffing issues and patient care protection at Corpus Christi Medical Center (CCMC). ... Nurses

Nurses from around the region gathered Thursday in front of Congressman Joe Baca's office to call for a tax on Wall Street. Gina Tenorio, Banning-Beaumont Patch, September 2, 2011 Holding a sign that read “Heal America. Tax Wall Street,” Congressman Joe Baca rallied a group of 40 to 50 people who rallied in front of his office on Thursday. “What do we want?” he asked. “Jobs!” “What is it that you want?” he asked again. “Jobs!” ... Wall

Lindsey Dunn, Becker's Hospital Review, August 19, 2011 Nurses at HCA's Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, picketed over staffing issues as the union that represents the nurses works to secure a new contract with the hospital, according to an El Paso Times report. The nurses, represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas, part of National Nurses United, claim nurse-to-patient ratios at the hospital have exceeded agreed-upon standards. The union is asking the hospital to include minimum staffing levels in the nurses' contract. ... Nurses

Vic Kolenc, El Paso Times, August 19, 2011 About 50 nurses and their family members and friends held an hourlong informational picket Thursday outside Las Palmas Medical Center to bring public attention to what the nurses say is a staffing problem that hurts patient care at the hospital. The demonstration was organized by a national nurses union that has been negotiating a contract with Las Palmas and Del Sol medical centers since last September. Terri Little-Verdugo, a registered nurse at Las Palmas and a member of the union's negotiating team, said the hospital's staffing policies have been broken many times in at least two hospital units. ... Demonstration

KFOX, August 18, 2011 El Paso - Nurses spoke out Thursday about patient care during a rally held out in front of Las Palmas Medical Center. Protesters who are nurses and members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee chanted, “Who has the power? What kind of power? Nurses power!” They took to the street at 1801 North Oregon demanding more staffing. Nurses claim that hospital management at the hospital has rejected their requests that ask for more staffing and better treatment of nurses in order to provide proper patient care. ... Nurses

Lauren Zimmerman, WTSM, August 18, 2011 El Paso - Nurses from Las Palmas and Del Sol took to the streets today to protest their hospitals. They chanted, "Ain't no power like the power of the nurse - cause the power of the nurse don't stop, say what?" About 100 people from the two hospitals and their unions held up signs and protested about the staffing situation at the hospital. A woman we spoke with says that in one department, nurses are handling twice the number of patients they're supposed to. ... Local

Steve Clark, Brownsville Herald, August 9, 2011 The National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency with jurisdiction over labor litigation, has ruled against seven ICU nurses who claim to have been wrongly fired from their jobs at Valley Regional Medical Center in May. The hospital, owned by Nashville-based Hospital Corporation of America, said it fired the nurses because of their refusal to take on additional “charge nurse” duties. The nurses - and the union representing them - argue that taking on additional duties would have taken them away from their ICU patients, potentially placing those patients in jeopardy. ... Nurses

Ryan Wolf, ValleyCentral.com, July 14, 2011 The lawsuit against Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville alleged the hospital violated the law by retaliating against seven former nurses who made "good faith reports" of "unsafe patient condition," according to documents from the suit’s original petition that Action 4 News exclusively obtained. One of the plaintiffs, Ramiro Castillo, spoke to Action 4 News about the legal against the hospital. "We have written documentation since November of last year that shows that we have tried our best to communicate with them [VRMC] ... And have yet to find any resolution," he said over the telephone. ... Nurses

Betsy Blaney, Associated Press, June 16, 2011 Midland - Advocates for nurses and a top state medical official praised the conviction Tuesday of the Winkler County sheriff for retaliating against two nurses who complained to state regulators about a physician who is a friend of his. Robert L. Roberts Jr. automatically lost his job as sheriff when jurors returned the guilty verdicts on four felony counts and two misdemeanor charges. "The verdict sends a message that nurses, patients and family members can bring a complaint about a doctor to the Texas Medical Board without fear of retaliation," said Mari Robinson, the board's executive director. ... Nurse

Kevin Sack, New York Times, January 14, 2011 A state grand jury in Winkler County, Texas, has indicted the sheriff, the county attorney and a hospital administrator for their roles in orchestrating the prosecution of two whistle-blowing nurses after they had reported allegations of malpractice. The sheriff, Robert L. Roberts Jr., and county attorney, Scott M. Tidwell, each face six counts, including misuse of official information and retaliation, which are third-degree felonies. Stan Wiley, the administrator of Winkler County Memorial Hospital, in the dusty West Texas town of Kermit, was indicted on two counts of retaliation. ... Sheriff

Plan Patient Safety Agenda. Nurses to Support Safe Staffing, Whistleblower Rights, Workplace Violence Prevention and Public Health Protections. RNs From Across State to Gather Simultaneously in El Paso in Support. National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas, January 10, 2011 Austin - Capping a historic year that saw nearly 2,000 registered nurses at five Texas hospitals vote to join the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas, an affiliate of National Nurses United, RNs will hold a media availability at the state Capitol on the legislature's opening day ... On

Houston Chronicle Editorial, August 16, 2010 A nurse's primary job is: A) To take care of her patients. B) To protect her doctor. To most of us, the answer seems obvious. So we were pleased last week that two nurses, Anne Mitchell and Vickilyn Galle, won a settlement from Winkler County, Texas - the county that not only fired them after they blew the whistle on a questionable doctor but prosecuted them on criminal charges to boot. In 2008, Mitchell and Galle began to voice concerns about a new hire, Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles Jr., to their superiors at Winkler County Memorial Hospital in Kermit. But nothing happened. ... It

Vitals Spotlight, August 16, 2010 Nurses Vickilyn Galle and Anne Mitchell submitted an anonymous report to the state of Texas in 2008 after observing a pattern of improper medical practices performed by Dr. Rolando Arafiles. However, the report did not remain anonymous and the pair of nurses faced felony charges from the county. These charges have since been dropped and the two nurses will now split a $750,000 settlement for damages. Mitchell and Galle may have received some money, but now the two nurses, who were just trying to stand up for patients’ rights, are facing the difficulties of trying to find new jobs. ... Nurses

Kevin Sack, New York Times, August 10, 2010 Two nurses agreed Tuesday to split a $750,000 payment from Winkler County, Texas, to settle the lawsuit they filed after being fired and criminally prosecuted for reporting allegations of improper medical treatment by a doctor at the county hospital, their lawyer said. One of the nurses, Anne Mitchell, was acquitted in February of misuse of official information, a felony, for anonymously reporting Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles Jr. to the state medical board in 2009. Charges against the second nurse, Vickilyn Galle, were dropped shortly before the trial. ... Texas