Disciplined for just trying to protect patients from COVID-19. It’s unthinkable. Outrageous. But it’s happening to nurses across the country.
Interrogations, harassment, hostility, accusations of insubordination — even threats of termination — are becoming commonplace as hospitals retaliate against nurses who dare to question their backwards personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection control policies.
We know that N95 respirators, at a minimum, are necessary protection against the spread of COVID-19. But instead of trusting the science and keeping nurses safe however possible, the AHA is hiding behind weakened CDC guidelines and is even lobbying Congress to lessen the requirements for safety standards further.
Some hospitals say that publicly advocating for the protections we need “sends the wrong message.” We need to speak out and let them know that science and protecting nurses and patients is the only “message” that matters.
In California, nurses have been doing just that. We joined our voices with other community members and demanded that local hospitals stop punishing nurses simply for being advocates for safe care. Enough of us spoke out — and we won. But we cannot rest until every hospital in the country commits to ending this absurd, disastrous practice of intimidating nurses who speak out and take action.
We cannot allow the hospital industry to block safe care. Every signature helps us put the pressure on hospitals to protect nurses, not punish them.
Thank you for speaking out.
Bonnie Castillo, RN
Executive Director, National Nurses United
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