The American Nurses Association — which represents the interests of the nation's registered nurses — announced its endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president Tuesday at an event in Seattle.
"Hillary Clinton has been a nurse champion and healthcare advocate throughout her career and believes empowering nurses is good for patients and good for the country," said Pamela Cipriano, PhD, RN, the president of ANA.
According to the ANA, Ms. Clinton helped create grants that increased the number of Magnet hospitals when she was a New York senator and worked toward healthcare reform as first lady.
To choose its candidate, ANA considered candidate interviews, communication with ANA's associations, campaign information, the candidate's voting record on ANA issues and an online polling of ANA membership. Ms. Clinton garnered the most votes in the online poll, beating the next candidate by more than 20 percentage points.
While the ANA has backed Ms. Clinton, National Nurses United, the largest organization of registered nurses in the nation, endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders in August 2015.