Professional Issues Conference is Strategic Event

Starting with a Congressional Lobby Day, HPAE members attended this year’s AFT Professional Issues Conference held in Washington D.C April 15th through 18th.

Held annually just prior to the Conference, the Lobby Day brings AFT Healthcare members together to lobby for patient safety measures and improvements to our healthcare system.

Several HPAE members went to Senator Menendez and Lautenberg’s offices to speak with legislative aids, including first-time lobbyer Banita Herndon from local 5089, who said “I didn’t expect everyone to be so welcoming, but that’s actually what I ended up enjoying the most: getting to interact with the Senators’ staff who were actually very interested in the Union’s perspective on Safe Patient Ratios and Safe Lifting. Most people right now are worried about getting everyone health care, but it’s just as important to keep nurses safe so that we can keep our patients safe. I thought Lobby Day was just a pleasant experience, and I’d definitely do it again!”

The Conference itself serves to let healthcare workers from around the country share their strategies for addressing challenges in the healthcare workplace, and winning improvements for both patient and worker.
Nurses from HPAE’s newest local at Newton Memorial Hospital attended this year’s conference. Michelle Jenkin, an RN from Newton, commented the conference was “invaluable for networking and sharing ideas and professionals were able to share experience and expertise in order to problem-solve.”

Attendees were reminded of why they went into health care in the first place when The Vermont/Haiti Project presented on their recent trips to Haiti. HPAE member Andre Savaille, an immigrant from Haiti, said the presentation was “very sad, but touching. They didn’t just show the destruction, they showed men and women hard at work. These were people who truly cared for Haiti – even while they watched their own presentation they grieved. This is what unity really means.” Andre will have the opportunity to work in Haiti with the Vermont/Haiti Project in May.