National Nurses United

8 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 J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 4 NATIONAL N ational nurses united in May was proud to announce that Jane Thomason, its lead industrial hygienist, was invited to join the workgroup of the Healthcare Infection Con- trol Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) of the Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention (CDC) and that Lisa Baum, lead occupational safety and health representative at NNU affiliate New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), was invited to join HICPAC itself. HICPAC is currently updating the CDC's Isolation Precautions guidance, which shapes infection control and prevention practices in hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care settings across the nation and around the world. For many months, NNU had been urging the CDC to add experts, such as aerosol transmission scien- tists and frontline health care workers, to the HICPAC workgroup currently domi- nated by infection control staff from large hospital systems. "This is a major win for nurses and other health care workers," said NNU President Nancy Hagans, RN, who is also the presi- dent of NYSNA. "We are so proud that NNU and NYSNA will now be part of HICPAC discussions. Our members have essential insights and expertise when it comes to infection prevention. We need to ensure that health care workers and patients are pro- tected in health care settings, especially as we prepare for potential Covid surges or other infectious diseases." "Up to this point, HICPAC's proposals have ignored critical science and weakened current protections for health care workers and patients because they have been domi- nated by infection prevention and industry viewpoints, to the exclusion of other essential expertise," said Thomason. "It is an essential step forward for HICPAC to include labor, occupational health, and industrial hygiene perspectives in the work- group. Our expertise is essential to crafting robust, science-based guidance that fully protects health care workers and patients from infectious diseases." "Including the voices and expertise of frontline nurses and their representatives on HICPAC is essential for cre- ating good health care policy," added Baum. "Our members bore the brunt of poor infection control policy and health and safety proto- cols during the Covid-19 pandemic, but now we have an opportunity to set a new course and prioritize the pro- tection of frontline health care workers and our patients." NNU still has major con- cerns with current infection control draft guidance. According to meeting sum- maries acquired via NNU's information requests, multi- ple members of the HICPAC Workgroup remain focused on maintaining and even expanding the use of surgical masks as pro- tective equipment for health care workers and patients exposed to infectious diseases, among other significant concerns. NNU has been urging HICPAC to follow the science and strengthen, not weaken, the CDC's infection control guidance. Here is the background on NNU's HIC- PAC campaign, which can be found at nationalnursesunited.org under "Cam- paigns," then "Health and Safety": On July 10, 2023, NNU delivered a letter to the CDC director outlining the union's concerns about weakening the CDC's guid- ance for infection control in health care settings. A similar letter, signed by nearly 900 leading public health experts, was sent to the CDC on July 20, 2023 opposing the draft proposed guidance, which contradicted scientific research on aerosol transmission and proposed to weaken existing guidance. On Aug. 23, 2023, NNU delivered a petition signed by nearly 11,000 individuals and organizations, including 11 unions and NNU health and safety experts join important CDC advisory groups Invitations represent major victory in pressing for stronger, science-based guidance on infectious diseases NEWS BRIEFS

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