National Nurses Union Calls on Obama to Protect Health Care Workers

[Omaha Steve]

Source: NBC News

The largest professional association of registered nurses in the United States is "deeply concerned" by the spread of Ebola, and is calling on President Obama to invoke his authority to protect health care workers.

"Without action at a very high level, how can we expect the nurses to do this on their own?" National Nurses United Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro told reporters on Wednesday, hours after a second nurse who treated the first Ebola patient in the U.S. tested positive for the virus.

DeMoro said many of National Nurses United's 185,000 members have expressed a lack of training and preparedness for potential Ebola patients in their hospitals, and said the group has tried to bring the lack of readiness to the attention of the highest levels of government.

"We've been essentially ignored by the White House and the CDC," she said.

FULL story at link.

Video: http://on.today.com/1EXrkmT



Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/national-nurses-union-calls-obama-protect-health-care-workers-n226676

[quakerboy]

1. Barking up the wrong tree

This president has more pressing concerns.

[LovingA2andMI]

16. Barking up the wrong tree by asking the President of the U.S.A. to be concerned...

About an outbreak of a virus with a 70% death rate, in the USA? Amazing....

[quakerboy]

18. Protecting workers

of any stripe has not been a top priority of the US government for quite some years. Unfortunately, that includes our current president.

[skepticscott]

2. There are only about a bazillion diseases

that are a bigger public health problem than Ebola. You would think that nurses, of all people, would know better.

[ReRe]

3. Name one

[skepticscott]

13. Influenza

Hepatitis C. Drug resistant TB. MRSA. For starters. Would you like me to name more and make you look sillier?

The only reason Ebola is a "crisis" is because the news media can boost ratings by scaring middle class white Americans with it.

[ReRe]

14. Flu, Hep C, DRTB, & MRSA....

... are deadlier than ebola. Really? Well, silly me. Please, make me look sillier. Do name more, Dr McSketicscott.

[skepticscott]

23. Tens of thousands of people

Die from flu JUST in the US every year. Many more worldwide. 15,000 people die from Hep C just in the US every year. Hundreds of thousands worldwide. People like you remain ignorant of those facts because the media doesn't shout them at you hourly, but if 15,000 people had died of Ebola this year, we'd be under martial law.

And of course, let's not forget AiDS. Over 10,000 deaths a year, just in the US. 1.5 million world wide, just last year. And basically a 100% mortality rate. But hey, that only kills blacks, gays and junkies, so who cares, right?

And yes, you do look silly.

[Ash_F]

20. You are aware of ebola's kill rate I hope? /nt

[Tweedy]

27. Flu is much more contagious--

You need to understand that the flu can mutate and become extremely deadly.

[Ash_F]

33. I have never heard of the flu with a 71 percent mortality rate. /nt

[kestrel91316]

6. Aaaaand you got that Master of Public Health degree where??

[TBF]

8. Way to blame the individual -

and not look at systemic issues.

What a crock on this board today.

[ballyhoo]

11. Yeah....right-- Yay, nurses...

[IMG][/IMG]

[DhhD]

4. Hoping to start hearing specific requests, complaints are less effective in my opinion.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

10. The larger problem is austerity is the new fad in hospitals

We nurses are doing far more work with less resources, and help.
We are mandated to stay longer hours beyond our shifts,
Operating rooms and procedure rooms are factory assembly lines,
A ten minute cleanup, after a bloody case with the expectation
To be set up and ready for the next patient in another 10 minutes
Or deal with the crybaby surgeon, cuz if he ain't cutting he ain't making money.
We are bone tired yet are harshly penalized for human error.
The MDs and management want unions gone!
The CEOs and top management get outrageous bonuses for cutting and
Slashing. We RNs see what is really happening in our hospitals
And if the public really knew, they would be mortified.
I no longer have faith in our healthcare system.

[LovingA2andMI]

17. Thank you!!

For telling the truth about America's Privatized Band-Aid Healthcare System....running on a shoestring....to say the very least.

[AdHocSolver]

19. What you describe was true 40 years ago when I worked in a hospital.

Nurses often have to put up with complaints and criticism, and what often amounts to abuse, from all sides: from hospital administrations, doctors, patients, and patients' families.

Nurses are in the front line of patient care. A rule of thumb: You can gauge how well a hospital will treat its patients by how well it treats its nursing staff.

A suggestion: If you need medical care and it can't be handled by outpatient treatment, be nice to the hospital's nursing staff. A positive outcome for your health may depend upon it.

[Sognefjord]

22. Ages ago, I had a job disinfecting an OR. It was serious work and it took me more than 30 minutes

to do the job properly and another person worked with me on the sterilization. And this was in a big city for-profit hospital. No one was pushing us to rush through this important work.

[eilen]

24. True Story:

An orthopedic surgeon in our hospital, associated with the big ortho office in our area is a big rainmaker. He however has a arrogance and mean problem and was slapping his patient's in the ass (often leaving a mark) and saying degrading things about them when they were under anesthesia. A few techs and nurses complained of the behavior to management. They essentially did nothing but talk to the surgeon about his behavior and had the Director of Surgery talk to him. He was pretty dismissive and did not stop. The managers and other people in leadership toyed around with cameras in the ORs to demotivate that behavior and (his work against staff) substantiate any more complaints. This was shot down by the Board d/t liability exposure (it becoming evidence.... in a lawsuit). So it was dropped. Then a traveler nurse was in the OR and saw this and did not go to management but went right to the state. Big blow up. The local DA was considering pressing charges. Problem was, since much time had passed patients that maybe thought it happened to them did not step forward but d/t patient confidentiality/HIPPA, the names of the patients involved were either not provided or they did not wish to be identified/aka were happy enough with the surgery. The surgeon was asked to leave and he went to another local hospital who claimed they had no problems or c/o of this kind of behavior. All the whistleblowers and the managers of the unit (but not the Director or the Board members) were dismissed. The hospital c/o they lost millions of dollars with the surgeon. They rehired the surgeon.

[greatlaurel]

32. You should do an OP about this. Great information.

Thank you for stating this from the front lines of health care. I cannot believe the routine change in shift hours for nurses. Doing a 12 hour shift is absolutely exhausting and can only lead to more human error, just due to exhaustion.

Keep telling everyone about this. Could you write an op-ed about this for your local paper? This is information that the public needs to see. It effects everyone.

[Ash_F]

21. They did that already. Were ignored, of course

[kestrel91316]

5. How do Texans expect the federal government to help them?

Texas hospitals are free to ignore every freaking recommendation CDC has ever made.

I suggest they go work in another state where their lives are valued and there isn't such loathing of all things federal.

[quadrature]

7. I have friends that work at an airport.

those guys should have respirators

[jalan48]

9. Nurses Union

Good for the Nurses Union!

[Shemp Howard]

12. I'd believe a union leader before any politician.

Politicians (even the President) are given information that has passed through many filters. And when they speak, they parse their words to try to satisfy as many different groups as possible.

But that's not so with true union leaders. They are given unfiltered info. from the membership, and they act for one reason only: to better conditions for the membership.

So, yes, good for the Nurses Union!

[riverwalker]

15. National Nurses United on Twitter

https://twitter.com/NationalNurses

showing questions/comments from around the country.
For example: A nurse in Florida was fired for calling the CDC to ask about Ebola, hospital said it was a HIPPA violation WTF?

[Tweedy]

30. Absurd!

We need to ask the right questions. Why is any hospital ignoring the cdc and why are there no meaningful consequences for doing so?

[seveneyes]

25. Americans call on Nurses Union to protect us against Nurses traveling with Ebola

[tridim]

26. Step 1: For-profit hospitals should be illegal.

But Congress would have to actually do something to make that happen. So it won't happen.

[underpants]

28. Save us from our for profit employers!!!

That is what they are saying

[Tweedy]

29. Nurses agree we need national health care

Right now, hospitals are regulated by the state in which the hospital sits. There are not enough employees at the cdc, or the nih to supervise every hospital in the nation.

Moreover, what the nurses are seeking here is a massive government intervention in hospital management. After the multiple screw ups at Texas Presbytarian one certainly sees the nurses' point. The GOP freaked out about premium support to buy health insurance and many red states refused to expand Medicaid. What do you think the chances are this proposal will go anywhere with legislation? I would say zero.

We need to hold the senate and make in roads in the house. The press needs to get a clue and start asking why this hospital failed to follow clear protocols and send Mr. Duncan, a seriously sick man, home in the first place.

[HockeyMom]

31. Robots?

Be careful with this one.