Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1323544
There are also measures employers and government can take to mitigate any harmful effects of their essential care work. In addition to NNU's main demands of optimal PPE through use of the Defense Production Act and a national Occupational Safety and Health Administration emergency temporary standard on infectious diseases, "Deadly Shame" details other remedies, such as policies and laws providing paid sick leave, as well as family and quarantine leave provisions. "Offering nurses and other essential workers paid sick and quarantine leave as well as paid family leave are basic measures that would reduce the spread of Covid-19. When nurses are exposed to Covid-19 or become ill, they should not have to choose between their paycheck and the risk of further spreading the disease," according to the paper. Another major mitigation would be passage of laws granting reg- istered nurses presumptive eligibility for workers' compensation benefits. Again, this would mean that, in the case of Covid, if any nurse contracts the virus, it is automatically assumed that she became infected through work. She does not need to argue with or fight her employer in order to collect workers' comp benefits, as so many NNU members have had to do. While the paper details cer- tain state-by-state efforts and some temporary executive orders by governors to grant presumptive eligibility, nurses nationwide lack this basic benefit that most other male-dominated "first responder" professions have already enjoyed for decades. And, ultimately, the government could begin to make up for the historic devaluation of registered nurses and work toward equity during this current pandemic by providing essential worker pay to RNs. Such pay should never be used as a substitute or excuse for not providing the safe workplaces, equipment, and protections that nurses should have, but it is one way that the inherent injustices nurses suffer in their profession can be concretely recognized. W hile nnu has and will continue to fight hard for public pol- icies, standards and regulations, and legislation to protect nurses and patients, unionized nurses know that the fastest way to achieve results is through their unity and collective action. Since the beginning of the pandemic, NNU members across the nation have staged more than 2,000 actions, and counting. The union's wave of shift-change protests, picketing, petitions, car cara- vans, and other coordinated events have resulted in a string of successes. These wins range from additional RN staffing and improved access to airborne-protection PPE at some facilities, to hospital visitor restrictions, to the California Department of Public Health in late November directing all general acute-care hospitals in the state to begin Covid-19 weekly testing of all health care workers and of all admitted patients. "Standing together, our union nurses successfully fought to get airborne protections and to stop their hospitals from using decon- taminated N95 respirators," said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN. "It is through collective action and collective bargain- ing that nurses have improved their working conditions and won strong workplace protections." At UChicago Medicine, the unity of nurses on the heme-oncology unit pushed management to address chronic understaffing prob- lems, where RNs were "working to burnout levels," as some were tasked with doing the work of two. Nurses were also forced to forgo breaks and leave requests, and at times even charge nurses were tak- ing on full assignments. Because of their advocacy, nurses on the unit are finally starting to see additional nurses hired. "They are hiring faster and they have expedited hiring here," said Gretchen Tuzik, an RN in the unit. "Nor- mally, it would take at least four levels of approval even though the person they're hiring for just left. It would have to be a request in budget and it was bureaucracy at its worst. The solidarity of our unit has given us some gains and the general outcry of the nursing body has pushed management to commit." Collective actions also prompted changes at hospitals like UC San Diego Medical Center, which implemented a policy of single- use N95 respirator masks. The nurses' actions dramatically reversed prior policies that included requiring health care workers to use an N95 mask for an entire week. "Especially in the ICU, we are using aerosolizing procedures," said Shannon Cotton, a registered nurse in the hospital's ICU. "We are doing procedures like bronchoscopy and you need to have proper PPE to protect yourself. You can't take care of patients if you get sick." Cotton and other NNU members took part in what she describes as a "huge boots-on-ground campaign" that included wearing red bandanas and a press conference that included the support of then-City Councilman Todd Gloria, who was elected mayor in November. "It's good knowing that when I come to work in the morning I will have adequate PPE, face shield, gown, and an N95 mask waiting for me and that takes so much stress off our shoulders," Cotton said. "I am protected. Ultimately it is our union's work and pressure that pres- sured them to provide this critical protection for UC San Diego staff." D espite suffering what could be, quite literally, deadly injus- tices in the profession and their workplaces, nurses like Lee and Vargas continue to power through the long days of the pan- demic because they continue to care. They won't stop caring for their patients and their colleagues. "People ask me why I'm still here," Lee said. "I do it for dedica- tion. I love my coworkers and for me to not show up it means that is one less nurse and that means they will have to take on two more patients." As for Vargas, the "thank yous" and other kind gestures of her patients, who are often there alone without family, help sustain her emotionally. "Their 'Thank you' lets you know that you are where you need to be. This is where you need to be and this helps to keep us going," Vargas said. "When they say 'Thank you' or 'God bless you,' it affirms you that after all this … there are positive things that helped today." Ty Richardson is a communications specialist for National Nurses United. O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C 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 17 I REACHED A POINT WHERE I WAS NUMB. I didn't feel tired. I didn't feel happy. I didn't feel angry. I didn't feel frustrated. And I didn't feel sad. I literally felt nothing. And that is a scary place for a nurse to be."