Too many nurses have lost their lives during the COVID-19 crisis. These nurses are more than statistics; they have families, colleagues, and patients who love them and who are grieving their loss.
Today is Workers’ Memorial Day, and we intend to make sure that they are remembered, and that their families know that we are with them – and that we are fighting to make sure all health care workers have the equipment and safe workplaces they need.
That’s why we’re compiling a virtual memorial to honor the nurses who have died while fighting this virus. Together, we can ensure not one of them is forgotten — and fight like hell to make sure that no more nurses die from the continued lack of adequate PPE and proper infection control practices.
We are heartbroken by these deaths. We are also angry, and we recognize our collective power and responsibility to act. As union activist Mother Jones said, we must “pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”
Nurses did not sign up to sacrifice their lives, but they are in danger every single day that the White House refuses to take action to increase production of the PPE required to protect nurses from this virus while on the job. It’s immoral to ask nurses to treat patients without necessary protection. Every day that action is not taken, more nurses die. That’s why we’re calling on Congress to urgently step in to force President Trump to use the Defense Production Act as well as mandate OSHA to issue an emergency temporary standard.
We need Congress to do their jobs and protect nurses so we don’t have to mourn any more nurse deaths. It is in their power to fix this dire shortage of PPE and we will not let up until they act.
With heavy hearts,
National Nurses United
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