National Nurses United

J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 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 15 I t's officially fall. In addition to being the season of pumpkin spice lattés, nurses know that fall is the start of flu season, and in 2021, it's a time when many of our kids have gone back to in-person learning— with or without mask mandates in their schools. The Delta variant has been driving Covid-19 infections back up lately, even among our younger patients, including people in their 20s to 50s and children. ICUs in many communities across the coun- try are once again overflowing. At this critical moment, RNs understand how important it is to speak up for science (as we always do). Science says people and communities everywhere must continue taking every precaution possible to combat Covid-19. But if you watch the news, chances are you've heard the latest surge can be resolved based on the behavior of just one group of people. You've probably heard that this fall, we are in an era called "the pandemic of the unvaccinated." As advocates for public health, registered nurses know there's no such thing as a pandemic that only involves one group of people. The science of epidemiology tells us there is just one deadly, global pandemic that has never yet ended, and we are all in it together. To get out of it, we must act together. All of us. It is absolutely possible to end the pandemic. Vaccines are an extremely critical part of a public health program to get us there, and nurses encourage everyone who is able to get vaccinated to do so. Vaccines can help prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death from Covid-19. The Delta variant has made breakthrough cases an increas- ingly pressing issue, and being vaccinated can be the difference between our patients having mild symptoms and our patients dying in the prime of their lives. One of our Florida NNU nurses put it so well in an interview with a local TV station when she said that she herself had Covid twice: once before she was vaccinated, when she experienced Covid as a very severe, months-long illness, and once after she was vaccinated, when she had mild cold symptoms for a few days. "Vaccines are like a life vest," she said. A wave may try to pull you under, but being vaccinated will keep you from drowning. However, vaccines alone won't end Covid. They are one important component of a robust infection control program, and we have so many other tools in our toolbox that we must use to end this pandemic. Those include: Universal masking, physical distancing, screening and testing, contact tracing, tracking of breakthrough infections, ventilation, and for health care workers, optimal PPE, safe staffing, proper isolation of patients, and more. In late July when the CDC course corrected its guidance and announced a return to masking in some indoor settings, nurses celebrated. We also repeated our ongoing call for a return to universal mask- ing in all public settings, regardless of vaccination status, a position from which we have never wavered since day one of Covid. That's because nurses follow science and proper infection control, and we know that wearing masks is cheap, simple, and effec- tive for reducing the spread of the virus. As nurses, we're all about prevention and helping patients avoid illness in the first place—and that means preventing trans- mission entirely. If we don't stop the virus from circulating and mutating, we could get variants that can evade our vaccines. We're all in this together, and if there are actions we all, regardless of vaccination status, can take to stop the Delta variant from surging in our hospitals and our communities, we must take them. The current public health messaging about "pandemic of the unvaccinated" plays to the worst aspects of human nature and does not encourage all people to practice the behav- iors needed to curb this virus. It doesn't emphasize the importance of masking up when going to the store or an indoor gather- ing. It doesn't underscore the importance of getting tested and isolating after an expo- sure, regardless of vaccination status. It doesn't highlight how critical it is for the public to stand with nurses, as we fight for proper infection control on the job, so our workplaces don't spread Covid. The Delta variant is so much more conta- gious and deadly than what we faced back in March of 2020, and we can only defeat it by understanding that we all have a role to play. As union nurses, we have a unique perspec- tive and practice in working in solidarity to realize a higher goal for the common good of everyone—and we never give up on our patients. Here's the public health message we will continue making loud and clear this fall: The pandemic has not yet ended for any one of us, but we can all stand together and bring it to an end for all of us. Bonnie Castillo, RN is executive director of National Nurses United. Bonnie Castillo, RN Executive Director, National Nurses United In It Together RNs push for every measure of infection control possible to end Covid The science of epidemiology tells us there is just one deadly, global pandemic that has never yet ended, and we are all in it together. To get out of it, we must act together.

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