National Nurses United

be guaranteed under a market-based system and that we must pass systemic, structural fixes, such as Medicare for All, to eradicate our society's social and economic injustices. And nurses, through their union, will be there to lead the way. "I know that without our union contract, we wouldn't have been able to push back in the way we have for patient safety in our hospi- tal," said Geoconda Hughes, an ICU nurse at Dignity Health's St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson, Nev., during the round- table. "As a nurse representative for the union, I am able to support my colleagues who would otherwise be fighting alone. When nurses stand together for our patients and our communities, we are an incredibly powerful force." Lucia Hwang is editor of National Nurse. J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 19 care employers to publicly report infection rates and deaths of their workers. We have the right to a safe workplace under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Information is a part of safety. But some employers are not telling nurses when they have been exposed or who has been infected. This is irresponsible and dangerous for nurses, health care workers, and patients." "Up-to-date information is crucial for the nation to effectively respond to this pandemic," said Jean Ross, RN and a president of NNU. "Nurses know that we need detailed, consistent data to understand how and where the virus is spreading, who is most vul- nerable to infection, and whether interventions are effective. We can use this information to learn how to prevent the spread of future pandemics. Unfortunately, instead of tracking and report- ing Covid-19 data, federal and state governments have ignored, hidden, and manipulated Covid-19 data." There is widespread resistance on the part of health care employers to transparently provide information on nurse and other health care worker Covid-19 infection rates and fatalities. Meanwhile, federal, state, and local governments have failed to compel health care facilities to provide this data. If hospitals are not widely required to publicly disclose their deaths and infection rates, they have no incentive to avoid becoming zones of infection. Most states report only a limited subset of Covid-19 data. But com- prehensive reporting is necessary to fully grasp the scope of the Covid-19 pandemic and respond effectively. Only 15 states are providing infection numbers for all health care workers on a daily, semiweekly, or weekly basis. In May, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began requiring nursing homes to provide Covid-related health care worker infection and mortality data, which is publicly available from CMS. For the hospital industry, however, data collection on health care worker infections and deaths has been woefully inadequate. At the federal level, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been primarily responsible for tracking and reporting Covid-19 data, including information on testing, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. But the Trump administration has moved hospital Covid-19 data reporting from the CDC to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which has hired private companies under nondisclosure agreements, keeping the majority of the data collected hidden from public view. Trump appointees within HHS' communications staff have reviewed and edited the CDC's weekly scientific reports to downplay risks. The politicizing of government agencies, such as the CDC, must stop. On Oct. 2, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar tes- tified before the House Oversight and Reform Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. The hearing examined the Trump adminis- tration's "unprecedented political interference in the work of scientists and public health experts" at the CDC and Food and Drug Adminis- tration, the administration's "refusal to provide accurate and clear public health information," and its failure "to develop and implement a comprehensive national plan to contain the coronavirus." While the CDC has been deficient in accurately and transparently collecting and publishing data related to Covid-19, it is still the most appropriate federal agency to do so based on its clear subject matter expertise in infectious diseases response. The CDC must be able to track and report Covid-19 data free of corporate or political influence. "The United States needs transparent, accurate, and timely pub- licly reported data on Covid-19 immediately," said Deborah Burger, RN, a president of NNU. "Nurses call on the Trump administration to restore hospital Covid-19 data reporting to the CDC immediately. The CDC must then strengthen, improve, and expand its data tracking." Nurses call for standardized, timely reporting between states and localities, rather than the current piecemeal approach, which undermines effective interpretation. A lag time of even a week can delay an effective response. Nurses call on all states and localities to publicly report at least the following data (for more details on what governments should report, read the statement on our web- site at www.NationalNursesUnited.org): • Daily reporting of data (as well as cumulative totals) on diagnos- tic testing and case counts at national, state, and county/local levels. • Daily reporting and cumulative totals of data on health care worker infections and deaths at an establishment level, such as the specific hospital or business. • Data on symptomatic cases must be reported at national, state, and county/local levels (influenza-like illness and Covid-like illness). • Daily reporting of data on hospitalizations and deaths must be reported at national, state, and county/local levels. • Hospital capacity data must be reported at national, state, and county/local levels; must be updated in real time; and must include total and available hospital beds by type (e.g., ICU, medical/surgi- cal, telemetry, etc.), staffing, health care worker exposures and infections, and nosocomial (hospital-acquired) patient infections. • Data on the stock and supply chain of essential personal pro- tective equipment (PPE) and other supplies must be reported at national, state, and county/local levels. —Chuleenan Svetvilas

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