Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Nurses Said They Can't Protect Themselves And Hospitals Are Unprepared For Coronavirus, Survey Reports

"When nurses are not protected, the community is not protected," one California nurse said.
As the coronavirus spreads in the United States, nurses across the country have said they don't have enough resources to protect themselves from getting sick and hospitals are unprepared to treat patients who are infected, according to a new survey.

Of the more than 6,500 nurses who responded to the survey conducted by the union National Nurses United, only 30% reported that their employer has sufficient personal protective equipment on hand to protect staff if they see a surge in patients with suspected COVID-19 infections. Less than half of those who responded -44% - said their employer has provided information about how to identify and respond to potential cases of the virus.

"When nurses are not protected, the community is not protected," said Cathy Kennedy, a nurse at Kaiser Permanente Roseville in California, where a patient infected with the virus died this week.

"We also hope that this death will compel hospital management to take seriously our calls for open communication, continuous training in infectious disease protocols and personal protective equipment, PPE, to keep us all safe at work and in turn our wider communities," she added.

COVID-19 was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December and has since spread to more than 80 countries, including the United States.

While health officials say the risk to the general public is still low -209 cases have been confirmed in the US as of Thursday morning -the virus is spreading within communities and health care workers who have treated COVID-19 patients are among the infected.

Speaking during a press conference Thursday, nurses said there's a shocking lack of preparedness at hospitals, which puts nurses who are on the frontlines of providing care at particular risk.

Only 29% of the nurses who responded said that there was a plan in place at their workplace to isolate patients with possible coronavirus infections and just 19% reported that their employer has a policy to address employees with suspected or known exposure to the virus.

"The results of our national survey of more than 6,500 nurses is truly disturbing," said Jane Thomason, an industrial hygienist for the union. "They show that large percentages of the nation’s hospital are unprepared to safely handle COVID-19."

The union also criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for not being more proactive to fight the spread of the disease, demanding that the agency direct health care facilities to put in place measures for screening and isolating patients that show symptoms of respiratory illness.

"The CDC has been behind the ball at almost every step of the way," Thomason said.

Now, Thomason said the CDC has been discussing weakening their guidance for health care workers, including recommending surgical masks - which public health experts say don't protect against infection -instead of respirators for nurses providing care to patients with COVID-19.

"We have ample scientific evidence that this is the wrong step to take," she said, citing a report that surgical masks did not protect nurses from SARS, another respiratory coronavirus that spread worldwide in 2002.

"Now is the time to use every possible tool available to guarantee the highest level of protection … to prevent the spread of infection, to protect health care workers, and to preserve our capacity to respond to a potentially widespread outbreak," Thomason said.

Representatives for the CDC did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' request for comment on the union's statements.

Meanwhile, another nurse who is sick and in quarantine after treating a patient with COVID-19 at a hospital in Northern California said in an anonymous statement provided by the union that the CDC has not approved requests from her doctor and county health officials to test her for the virus.

"They said they would not test me because if I were wearing the recommended protective equipment, then I wouldn’t have the coronavirus," she said. "What kind of science-based answer is that?"

The nurse said she volunteered to care for a patient who tested positive because she had all the recommended protective gear and training to do so.

The last she heard from the CDC was that it needs an "identifier number" to initiate her testing and that it was prioritizing testing for people with more severe illness. Only so many samples can be tested each day, the nurse said she was told.

"I am a registered nurse, and I need to know if I am positive before going back to caring for patients," she said. "Delaying this test puts the whole community at risk."
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
China Presses Netherlands to “properly” Resolve the Nexperia Seizure as Supply Chain Risks Grow
Merz Attacks Migrants, Sparks Uproar, and Refuses to Apologize: “Ask Your Daughters”
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
×