Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1477982
When the Covid-19 pandemic began, our union's Health and Safety division issued an early alert and nurses at my hospital immediately urged management to prepare. Then cases surged and management responded by changing our PPE protocols, making us reuse single-use N95s, and constantly changing the N95 models they gave us. Nurses were able to push back — armed with the standards, evidence, and knowledge provided by our union's Health and Safety division — and advocate for what we needed to protect our patients and ourselves. We also utilized our pandemic task force contract language to secure PPE. Because we took collective actions as a union, we won significant improvements for our patients and colleagues. We continue to monitor conditions and push back on issues related to Covid-19 and other hazards in our facility." — Mary Lynn Briggs, RN Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, Bakersfield, Calif. 21 HEALTH AND SAFETY PROTECTING NURSES AND PATIENTS CNA/NNU's Health and Safety division (H&S) advocates for nurses' right to a safe workplace. Nurses can face many causes of injuries and illnesses in the workplace when their employers neglect their health and safety, which puts their patients at risk, too. When nurses are safe, patients are safe! PRIORITY HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUE AREAS The Health and Safety division works to address the following priority issue areas: X Workplace violence prevention X Infectious disease exposure control, including for known pathogens such as measles, tuberculosis, influenza, Ebola, bloodborne pathogens, and oth- ers as well as preparation for emerging infectious diseases events such as the Covid-19 pandemic X Safe patient handling and back/musculoskeletal injury prevention programs X Stress prevention and supporting mental health X Hazardous chemical exposure prevention, including disinfectants and antineoplastic drugs X Preventing other workplace hazards that put nurses and their patients at risk of injury or illness TOOLS AND RESOURCES The Health and Safety division monitors threats to nurse health and safety through surveys, literature reviews, and worksite assessments. The division issues alerts to mem- bers about new and changing conditions. In emergent situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic where information changes daily, the H&S division provides up-to-date, essential information, analysis, and recommendations for nurses to powerfully advocate for safer patient care conditions. The H&S division provides resources, such as fact sheets, scientific briefs, and trainings, to members to support their advocacy for safer patient care conditions. These resources cover a wide range of topics, including workplace violence prevention, safe patient handling and back injury prevention, infectious disease exposure control, personal protective equipment, ventilation, and much more. Continuing education classes are offered for members, which provide analysis of the latest science on nurse health and safety, information about effective protections employers should implement, and nurses' rights under laws and regulations. The H&S division provides support to Professional Practice Committees on technical questions regarding occupational health and safety issues, exposure incidents, and understanding nurse rights and employer responsibili- ties under law and regulation. The H&S division participates in public policy advocacy to craft and win the strongest laws and regulations that establish standards for nurse and patient safety in health care settings and to create additional enforcement tools for nurses to use to protect themselves and their patients. " The Organization »