“You were discriminated against at school, people lost their jobs,” said Hagans. That prejudice against Haitians grew exponentially in the 1980s after the Food and Drug Administration designated Haitians in the United States as a high-risk group for AIDS and prohibited them from donating blood. “We were treated as if we were from another planet,” recalled Hagans. Language was not the only difficulty she and her family faced they also found themselves confronting racism and xenophobia. “It was very difficult to learn English, but I had to do it quick.” In the United States, a pre-teen young Hagans was tapped to help her brothers and sisters maneuver through the unfamiliar workings of American life and it fell to Nancy to serve as translator for her parents and defender of the family. Her father worked as an electrician and her mother cared for the family of 12. The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) voted to affiliate with NNU in October 2022, and Hagans became an NNU president in December.īorn to a middle-class family in Haiti, Hagans and her family followed a well-worn path from Port-au-Prince to Brooklyn in the 1970s. That outspokenness will be useful in Hagans’ role as the newest member of the Council of Presidents for National Nurses United (NNU), where she will add her voice to a powerful chorus of nurse advocates leading the largest nurses union and professional association in the United States. “When I see something, I just can’t just sit there and not say something.” “I was always the vocal one,” she said with an easy smile. Nancy Hagans, RN, and president of New York State Nurses Association, said she can’t remember a time when it wasn’t simply reflex for her to stand up and speak out for what is fair and just. National Nurse Magazine - Jan | Feb | Mar 2023 Issue NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, brings natural leadership abilities and a drive for justice to her role as newest member of NNU Council of Presidents
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |