National Nurses United

Francisco. "One of my coworkers, who is also asthmatic, tried one on out of curiosity. She said she could only wear it for 10 minutes before she had to take it off and run for her inhaler. The fumes were that noxious." Preliminary results from a second nationwide survey that NNU conducted from April 15 to May 10 about nurses' current working conditions showed that 87 percent of nurses were forced to reuse PPE, some 28 percent were using "decontaminated" masks, and 72 percent had exposed skin when treating COVID patients. Again, National Nurses United completely rejects these non- standard uses of PPE. We have reiterated numerous times that N95s are single use only, and that there is no proven, safe method to reuse, extend the life of, or decontaminate N95 respirators. The organization's health and safety and nursing practice divisions have reviewed all available decontamination studies and concluded that there is no method that effectively inactivates the pathogen, does not degrade the performance of the respirator, and does not introduce an additional hazard to the user. NNU continues to demand that the government use the Defense Production Act to compel U.S. manufacturers to immediately make more PPE so that the equipment can be used as intended. Members of the public have generously fundraised to buy or scrounge up N95 respirators from community sources, but the United States still needs a sufficient supply to battle the virus for the long haul. Nurses are now concerned that, since their hospital systems have invested in these "decontamination" systems, the highly unusual practice of using reprocessed masks will become the new normal instead of returning to the higher standard and proper use of such disposable PPE. * * * * m., an rn who works within the Providence system of hospitals but is reluctant to use her full name because she is worried about management retaliation, thought her application for workers' compensation was pretty straightforward: She took care of COVID patients, she got sick and could no longer work, she tested positive for COVID and stayed at home for more than a month to recover, she applied for workers' comp. End of story. But her employer initially denied her claim, saying there wasn't enough evidence that she contracted the virus at work since her PPE should have been enough protection. "How does that make any sense? I mean, I take care of COVID patients!" she said. "My partner even tested negative, so I couldn't have gotten it from him!" Unfortunately, M.'s case was exactly what NNU feared would happen. Nurses being denied workers' compensation benefits for contracting COVID-19 and being unable to work was just one of many workplace problems nurses began experiencing as the pandemic unfolded. The second NNU survey revealed that a third of nurses reported that their employer requires them to use their own sick leave, vacation, or paid time off if a nurse gets COVID-19 or is exposed to COVID-19 and needs to self-quarantine. Denials of testing, lack of communication, inappropriate floating or reassignment to different or higher-acuity units, and call-offs and layoffs of nurses were some of the other top issues nurses 18 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 0 NNU sends letter to Vice President Mike Pence, Congress demanding they protect nurses and health care workers MARCH 2 NNU petitions Secretary of Labor and OSHA for an emergency temporary standard on emerging infectious diseases in response to COVID-19 MARCH 4 NNU holds press conference to announce survey results, demands of employers and government MARCH 5 CDC weakens guidance on measures to contain COVID-19, including rolling back guidance on PPE MARCH 10

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