National Nurses United

someone to listen to them. Some were under severe stress because they lost everything. "One woman came to the clinic five days in a row just to talk to someone," said Yost, who also volunteered for RNRN's Hurricane Michael deployment. "She would cry and then go back home." The nurses saw plenty of cuts and bruises, a broken arm, infec- tions, patients concerned about their blood pressure or worried about their health, and many upper respiratory illnesses due to damp homes or community living situations. What keeps the nurses coming back is their deep desire to help people. "It gets you back to the heart of nursing, to help people who don't have other means of assistance," said Bachecki, who has now volunteered on four of RNRN's hurricane deployments. "Everything they had in the world is gone. It's heartbreaking, but it feels good to help someone." Bachecki worked for years at a nonunion hospital where if she wanted to do something like RNRN, she had to find people to cover her shift and request vacation. "Now that I work for a union hospital, it is super easy because RNRN is part of our collective bargaining agreement," said Bachecki. "I just contact my labor rep who emails staff and management and my employer lets me off." Chuleenan Svetvilas is a communications specialist at National Nurses United. 24 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 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 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 2 Tips for an RNRN Deployment Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN), a disaster-relief project of Cali- fornia Nurses Foundation and National Nurses United, was created in response to hundreds of nurses immediately volunteering in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Since its formation, RNRN has sent teams of nurses to help in the aftermath of disasters across the United States and around the world, including California, Florida, New York, Texas, Haiti, the Phil- ippines, and the Bahamas. RNRN has also provided basic humanitarian aid and medical support to underserved communities within the United States and the Standing Rock Sioux and Navajo Nations, as well as in Central and South America and the Caribbean. RNs can go to RNResponseNetwork.org to join RNRN's list of interested volunteers or donate to support sending nurses to where they are needed most. Once you are added to RNRN's volunteer list, when there is a need, RNRN will send an email alert with questions specific to the deploy- ment. If you think your skills and availability might be a good match, respond immediately to the email. If you meet the criteria, RNRN staff will call to follow up with more information. Disaster relief and humanitarian aid deployments can be the most rewarding work a nurse can do, but they are also inherently challenging, so it's important to know your own potential limitations. Here's what you should keep in mind about deployments. Expect the unexpected. "There's a lot of hurry up and wait," said Venessa Soldo-Jones, an ER nurse at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minn., of her experiences on multiple RNRN deployments. "Nurses are really linear, and disasters are not linear. If you want a plan, disaster medicine is not for you. You have to roll with it and be willing to toss everything out. There is an objec- tive, but how we're going to get there is dynamic." Be flexible and follow directions. When you are deployed, you don't know what the situation will be when you arrive. Things can change very quickly. You may be doing old-fashioned charting on paper because there are- n't any computers or the power is out. Breakfast may be ham and cheese sandwiches every morning with no gluten-free, vegetarian, or vegan options. "Be flexible in everything—food, personal space, your approach to people," said Soldo-Jones, who is also a paramedic and retired firefighter. "What you think they need and what they actually need may be different. People you're seeing have been in an unstable environ- ment for days or weeks with no end in sight." Flexibility also means the ability to do more than nursing, according to California Nurses Asso- ciation President Cathy Kennedy, a neonatal ICU RN at Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center, who was the team lead for RNRN's 2017 deploy- ment to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, overseeing dozens of nurses, including RNRN vol- unteers and RNs from other organizations and unions. "Do whatever is needed because you're there to help," advises Kennedy. "If someone asks you to sweep the floor, you sweep the floor. You may want to titrate medi- cines, but instead, you may be sitting down, playing a game with little kids." Be fit. When you are on a deployment, you will be volunteering every day. Don't expect any days off unless conditions are improving, and your assistance is no longer urgently needed. "You need a good baseline reserve because you may not have the best nutritional options or sleep during the deployment," said Soldo-Jones. "You will be in a stressful situation and taking on other people's stress." Be honest with yourself. "If you know you are not a flexible per- son, this may not be the right spot for you," said Tammi Bachecki, a trauma ICU RN at Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center in California. "Do some self-inventory. If you have young kids at home, can you be away from your family for two weeks? Can you be in tight spaces with people for two weeks straight? How is your health?" RNRN is there at a moment's notice because of our dedicated, compas- sionate volunteers and donors. Thank you to the RNs and supporters who make this work possible! —C.S. Left to right: RNRN volunteer in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017; Cathy Kennedy looking at map of locations where RNRN provided help in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017; Venessa Soldo-Jones on RNRN deployment in Grand Bahama for Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

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