Hamilton elected president of 20,000-member Minnesota Nurses Association

Hamilton has been a registered nurse for 28 years and works at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics in Minneapolis. She succeeds Linda Slattengren, who served as president since October 2005.

Linda Hamilton, RN

Last month, Hamilton was honored at the national AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh as a “Political Hero” for her long record of connecting political activism with nursing advocacy. View video of her at the convention.

“MNA is a trusted leader for nurses and their practice because we have a legacy of merging diverse values of labor, nursing practice, education and governmental affairs into one unified voice,” she said.

Hamilton plans to help the organization build on that legacy by achieving meaningful health care reform for Minnesotans, advancing the profession of nursing and assuring fair, safe working environments for nurses.

“It is this moment in time when our 20,000 registered nurse members and all the RNs across the state and country will be engaged, unified and fiercely dedicated to creating the change nurses know will benefit nurses, patients and families,” declared Hamilton.

Hamilton and the other newly-elected officers will assume their duties at the close of MNA’s 104th annual convention, Oct. 10 – 13 in St. Paul. The state’s nurses will meet within a powerful convergence of circumstances.

The United States is embroiled in an impassioned discussion of health care reform, with nurses poised to play an influential role in the debate. At the same time, the Minnesota Nurses Association helped spearhead formation of a national union the representing the interests of 150,000 direct-care nurses in 22 different states. Equipped to organize hundreds of thousands of other front-line nurses, National Nurses United will provide leadership on overall reform and key issues such as health and safety for nurses and appropriate nurse-to-patient ratios.

On a state level, 12,000 MNA members in the metro area and 4,200 in 32 other bargaining units across the state will open contract negotiations with their employers in 2010. Signals indicate the bargaining will be contentious. In recent months, hospitals unsuccessfully sought wage concessions, then forced layoffs on already overburdened nursing staffs. In May, MNA members were notified by their employers the nationally- respected Twin Cities Hospitals/Minnesota Nurses Association Pension Plan would “likely be open for negotiations.”

This article is based on information provided by the Minnesota Nurses Association.

For more information
View the convention schedule and learn more about MNA at its website

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