Nurse holds sign "We are here for our patients"

About CNA

Founded in 1903, the California Nurses Association is a premiere organization of registered nurses and one of the nation’s fastest growing labor and professional organizations in the U.S. with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California.

Collage of nurses

CNA 101

Your guide to joining the RN movement. Learn more about our program, our history, and how we are organized.

CHEU

CHEU

The Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union is an independent union formed in 2001 by hospital employees to win strong union representation, better benefits, and improved conditions for employees and patients. It is an affiliate of CNA.

Press releases

Registered nurses at Desert Regional Medical Center are calling on the Desert Healthcare District Board to use all available means to pressure Tenet Healthcare to release financial information that would allow the board to solicit offers from other potential operators who could take over management of the hospital.
Registered nurses at Washington Hospital in Fremont, California, reached a tentative agreement with management at Washington Hospital Healthcare System over the weekend, averting a one-day strike that was set to begin on Wednesday, May 1, announced California Nurses Association/National Nurses United today. The new agreement addresses nurses’ key concerns around retention and recruitment of RNs within the healthcare district, improving patient care and working conditions for nurses at Washington Hospital.
Members of the California Nurses Association, other labor unions, advocacy groups, elected officials and activists praised the Assembly Health Committee’s vote to move forward the single-payer health care bill.
Ahead of Health Committee hearing, members of the California Nurses Association, other labor unions, advocacy groups, and members of the California State Assembly will gather at Cesar Chavez Park.

Organize with the California Nurses Association to improve workplace standards through collective bargaining, reform national health care legislation, and make a difference for you and your patients.

Videos

Safe Staffing Ratios Protect Patient and Nurses

Safe RN ratios have been proven to improve the quality of care and nurse recruitment and retention in California hospitals, yet understaffing is a major issue RNs struggle with every day. Together, we can change that.

2023 California Nurses Association lobby day

Hundreds of registered nurses rallied and marched in Sacramento, Calif. before meeting with legislators about nurses’ key issues and priority legislation.

Campaigns

Nurses inside hosptial hold signs "Safe Staffing Saves Lives"

California Safe Staffing Ratios

A.B. 394, the CNA-sponsored safe staffing law, has multiple provisions designed to remedy unsafe staffing in acute-care facilities. California’s safe staffing standards are based on individual patient acuity, of which the RN ratios is the minimum.

Nurse inside car displaying sign "CalCare"

CalCare

The California Nurses Association is proud to sponsor Assembly Bill 1400, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act (CalCare), which would guarantee comprehensive, high-quality health care to all California residents as a human right.

Sign "Nurses Heal California"

Supported California Legislation

CNA is committed to building a broad movement for transformative social change and confronting the powerful interests that dominate our economic and political system. Learn more about our supported and sponsored California legislation.