Nurses across the country are marching toward a future where patients come first
There’s no one better at navigating uncertain times than registered nurses. Every single day, every single shift, we work in the space between life and death, between health and illness, between care as a driving force and profit as a driving force. And in that liminal space, union nurses are constantly using every ounce of our collective power to point our workplaces and our communities toward care, health, and life.
That’s why, with our nation at a crossroads in so many ways, nurses across the country are rising up on Jan. 16, to hold marches and actions nationwide. We know the cusp of a new year is exactly the right time to flex our collective power, as our nation gears up for the change between presidential administrations, and as patients across the country grapple with economic uncertainty, disasters fueled by the climate crisis, and questions about what the future will entail. We’re here to let our patients know nurses will fight for them on the road ahead, and we will also fight to push that road in the right direction.
In uncertain times, one thing is always clear to us: Our patients must come first.
It’s a message we’re constantly hammering home to our corporate employers, who regularly navigate in whatever direction best supports their profit margins, while claiming there is no other path for them to follow. They insist patients can’t be cared for with a safe level of staffing because there’s a so-called “nursing shortage.” They fail to mention they created the staffing crisis by driving nurses away from their jobs with unsafe working conditions. They claim replacing the skilled work of registered nurses with dangerous, untested, unregulated AI and other technology will solve this so-called “nursing shortage,” when in reality, investing in safe staffing would keep nurses around to provide irreplaceable hands-on care.
Our employers try to drive wedges between nurses and to vilify unions because they know that when we link arms and refuse to be divided, we can use our collective power to hold them accountable. Take our 2024 wins, for example. Last year alone, RNs at 17 HCA facilities in six states settled strong, new contracts to enshrine patient protections and keep people in our communities safe. RNs at New Orleans’ University Medical Center made U.S. history by striking for a fair first contract. These were just a few ways nurses have continued to put the wealthiest, greediest corporations on notice.
We’ve reminded our employers again and again that union nurses will always fight in unbreakable solidarity to protect our patients. And we’re not going to stop now. In 2025, nearly 100,000 registered nurses represented by NNU affiliates across the country will be bargaining contracts for safe patient care. Let this January day of action be a rallying cry for union RNs and a message to our employers: Nurses will always stand up to ensure our patients come before corporate profits.
We’re demanding strong workplace protections on everything from artificial intelligence in health care, to safe staffing and workplace violence. As a workforce uniquely concerned with ensuring our patients’ everyday lives are just, healthy, and safe, union nurses have an extremely powerful voice to stand up for the working class. We’re going to use it, in our facilities, and in our communities.
At a time when working people are suffering immensely, crushed under the weight of everything from extreme economic injustice, to a drastic rise in bigotry and hate, we are going to remind our patients that they have 225,000 RN advocates all across the country. In January and beyond, we are going to come together stronger than ever before to let our patients who are scared, who are struggling, who are hurt and sick and feeling very little hope know, “We have your back.”
And we are going to remind our fellow nurses of that, too. We are here for one another. At the end of the day, we are all fighting the same fight to protect our patients and our profession. Without our solidarity, our employers — the corporations and billionaires — will win. We won’t let them.
Fighting to center care is a radical act in a society that worships profit. For the next four years and beyond, we’re going to show people across the United States what a healthier, more caring way forward looks like. Union nurses are already living it.
