National Staff Nurses Union Endorses Obama for President; UAN Leaders Cite Obama's Commitment to Working Families, Health Care...( SILVER SPRING Md. June 11 -- Lea...),Health

SILVER SPRING, Md., June 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leaders of the United American Nurses, AFL-CIO, announced today that the union of staff nurses endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) for president of the United States and will be working to ensure that Obama is elected.

"After a long and careful look at the candidates and listening to our staff nurse members and activists, it is clear that Sen. Obama is the best choice to make sure that the needs of staff nurses, their families and all America's working families come first, not as an afterthought or an empty campaign promise. We look forward to working hard on his election," said UAN President Ann Converso, RN.

UAN's Executive Council voted unanimously to endorse Obama, acting on input from the UAN RN PAC Board and results of a straw poll of delegates to UAN's National Labor Assembly. Last fall, UAN asked presidential candidates to begin a dialogue on patient care and nursing issues that would address concerns of staff nurses. Through this exchange, Sen. Obama outlined a platform that includes key priorities for staff nurses, from enactment of federal RN staffing standards to safe patient handling legislation.

"Sen. Obama has demonstrated a larger understanding of the problems in our health care system and a vision for how we can fix them," added Converso. "For nurses fighting for our patients and ourselves day-in and day-out, our next president must make health care a priority. I believe Sen. Obama will do that.

"Our country has endured eight long years of an administration that puts the corporate bottom line ahead of working families. As nurses, we know all too well what happens when profits take precedence over people -- whether in a hospital or in the White House. It is time for a president who advocates strongly and unwaveringly for working families. We will be working alongside our sisters and brothers across the labor and progressive communities to make sure we elect Sen. O
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