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A large union merger, approved Monday in Phoenix, has combined three nurses unions into one large ?super-union? in an effort to influence national health care and patient law policies. The new union will be known as the National Nurses United, and combines the powerful California Nurses Association with Massachusetts Nurses Union and the United American Nurses (covering parts of the Midwest). The National Nurses Union will have a total of 150,000 members, a number leaders hope will be strong enough to influence policy among the 3 million nurses nationwide. The nurses intend to fight for national or single-payer health care, but also want to increase their say in matters of patient care. Opponents of the merger fear that the nurses will use their new leverage to barter for higher salaries, in fact increasing the costs of health care.