Her colleagues informed her, and Jeffries eventually started feeling
sick. Her condition worsened to the point that her teenage son, who
has special needs, used Jeffries' phone to call her union rep for help,
and she was rushed to the hospital.
"My son said my skin was so pale that I looked like Elmer's glue,"
said Jeffries, who had a cough and trouble breathing, common
symptoms of COVID-19. Although Jeffries tested negative, studies
have shown that the tests can register as false negatives around 30
percent of the time. During her illness and afterward, Jeffries still
never heard anything from the hospital about her exposure.
"I feel like we are just disposable," said Jeffries of nurses. "It
doesn't matter whether we live or die; if we drop like flies, it doesn't
matter to them."
It has always been NNU's position that employers must protect
nurses from being exposed in the first place, with optimal PPE,
including powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) and more. In
what should be the rare event nurses are exposed, employers must
inform nurses so they can protect their patients and families. And
OSHA needs to keep employers accountable. Profit has no place in
health care.
"[COVID-19] is a massive wake up call for us because it showed
the massive inadequacies of our health care system," said Lalasz.
"There needs to be a fundamental change, and I think now people
are really going to be willing to fight for that."
Kari Jones is a communications specialist with National Nurses United.
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