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Nurse Mike Garrick took great care not to attribute the coronavirus to his wife and two-year-old daughter. I drop in at the hotel to take a shower after work. He will wash his clothes with Lysol’s disinfectant. They did a tremendous amount of hand washing.
However, at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, Glick and his colleagues were worried that it would be dangerous to care for an infected patient without wearing an N95 mask. The N95 mask removes 95% of all airborne particles, including those that are too small to block with a regular mask. But the hospital manager said they were not needed and did not provide.
Then last week, a Gulick ward nurse tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The next day, doctors patrolling the ward asked the nurse why they weren’t wearing N95 masks and said they should have better protection.
That was all for Gulick. He and a handful of nurses told the manager that he would not enter the COVID-19 room without the N95 mask.
“I entered nursing with a passion to help the most vulnerable and unable to speak their voice, but with the passion that they are the defenders for those who are not in the present situation. “I did,” Gulick said.
The hospital has suspended him and nine colleagues, according to the hospital’s national nurses. According to the union, 10 nurses are now paid, but they cannot return to work while the HR department is conducting an investigation.
They say that they are one of the hundreds of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals across the country and are required to work without proper protection. Some have participated in protests or filed formal claims. Others buy and make their own supplies.
One nurse was dismissed after refusing to remove his N95 mask and sterile gloves, and instead, instead of taking care of a known COVID-19 patient, had a “thin tissue thin” surgical mask on duty while on duty. I wore
Dawn Kulach was dismissed on April 10 by a Virtua Health hospital in Voorhees, NJ, shortly after returning from work and recovering from viral-induced pneumonia. In an interview, Kulach said it was dangerous to work without an N95 mask, as the virus circulates in the hospital airways and there is no way to know which patient has the virus. She also insisted on wearing sterile gloves to use computers and other shared items at the nurses station.
In a statement, Dr. Reginald Blaber, Virtua’s chief clinical officer, said the hospital is now at high risk for caring for patients infected with the virus, waiting for test results, and ICU and ER. He said he provided N95 masks to local staff. Staff in other areas will receive one surgical mask daily.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not require N95 masks for COVID-19 caregivers, but many hospitals choose additional protection because the infection is so contagious. The CDC said Wednesday that at least 9,200 health workers were infected.
Most often, coronaviruses cause mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough, which resolve in a few weeks. For some people, especially older people and those with existing health problems, it can cause more serious illnesses and deaths such as pneumonia.
As of Tuesday, St. John’s said he had provided N95 masks to all nurses caring for COVID-19 patients and nurses awaiting test results. The statement said the hospital was increasing its supply and sanitizing masks daily.
“It’s no secret that there is a national shortage,” the statement said. The hospital did not comment on the interrupted nurse.
Angela Gadura, a St. John nurse who became ill at COVID-19, asked her hospital manager why the doctor was wearing N95, but not the nurse. She says they told her that a CDC would be enough with a surgical mask to keep her safe.
Later, she suffered from a dry cough, severe body aches, and joint aches.
“I was really scared when I received the phone call that I was positive,” she said.
She is recovering and will return to work next week.
“The next nurses to get this may be unlucky. They may need hospitalization. They may die,” she said.
In the United States, most of the US suffered a serious shortage of medicines containing N95, which contained N95, as the number of COVID-19 cases surged in March. Correspondingly, the CDC has lowered the standard of protection for health care workers and recommended using bandanas if the mask is missing.
Some resentful health workers complain to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
“I fear retaliation for being a whistle-blower, please remain anonymous,” said a Tennessee health worker, saying that if a COVID-19 patient is not being treated directly, the staff will put on their mask. He said he was not allowed to wear it.
In Oregon, a complaint filed on March 26 warned that no masks were being provided to nurses treating patients suspected of having COVID-19. Another Oregon complaint that claimed the nurse was “wearing a mask is said to lead to disciplinary action.”
Some take me to the street.
On Wednesday, a nurse union in New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, California, and Pennsylvania planned action in the hospital and posted it on social media using the hashtag PPEoverProfit. PPE, or personal protective equipment, refers to items such as masks and gowns.
A nurse at the Fresno Medical Center in Kaiser Permanente, California, demanded more protective equipment during protests during a shift on Tuesday. Hospitals, like many US hospitals, require nurses to use one N95 mask per day, raising concerns about patient-to-patient transmission.
Kaiser said 10 nurses at the facility had tested positive. The protest organizer said three were hospitalized and one was receiving emergency care.
Kaiser Senior Vice President Wade Noji denied the union’s allegations that nurses were unnecessarily exposed.
“Kaiser Permanente has many years of experience managing advanced infections and safely treats patients infected with this virus while protecting other patients, members and employees,” said Nozzy. Told.
Institutional critical care nurse Amy Arland said it would be grounds for disciplinary action to follow their current infection control protocols before a pandemic occurs.
“And now it’s like throwing all those standards out the window, as if they didn’t exist,” Arland said. “It is beyond me.”
AP Medical Writer Linda A. Johnson contributed to this report from Trenton, NJ.
