Guaranteed Healthcare

By Donna Smith

SECAUCUS, New Jersey -- As you may see above, traveling on our bus can mean a bit of relaxing for some while others work on computers to plan the next stops and the next events.  Our work on the ground can be intense, and many days we held four or five separate stops, so any chance to settle in for a bit was welcome to us.

Today was a travel day.  We needed to make our way from Bangor, Maine, to Washington, DC, before Sunday afternoon, so there was no time to waste.  Up early and on our way, we were glad to have our necessary provisions on our bus and be making good time as we prepare for more reaching out to citizens who may need more information on healthcare reform before they head to the polls on Tuesday.

This bus has now carried us through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine and New Jersey.  In every state we've met nurses and lots of our fellow citizens who are in great anticipation of this election.  Some are very hopeful, and some are fearful.  But from our observations, most citizens are certainly engaged in this election cycle.  They have been very appreciative of our nurses' information on healthcare reform.

From one end of these great New England states to the rolling hills of Ohio, families are struggling to meet their healthcare needs.  Health insurance costs too much and delivers too little to too many American families.  And still millions of other Americans have no health insurance coverage at all.  RNs know those without insurance are often working and often young, so we paid special care to reach out to those citizens so they would know that single payer healthcare in the way to go.

We've formed a powerful bond on the bus.  But the more important bonds have been formed from the beauty of the Maine coastline to the rolling hills of rural Pennsylvania and in every state where our bus has stopped as nurses reached out during this historic week for our nation to make sure citizens had the information they need about healthcare reform.

We're in this together -- on the bus and in the nation.  We cannot be a strong and healthy nation if we allow our fellow citizens to suffer and die without access to healthcare. So the next time anyone wants to know what it's like to be on a bus tour with the nurses, I think I can honestly say it is transforming for those they visit and for those they educate.