The latest COVID-19 relief bill is being finalized next week, with the Senate coming back to D.C. in just four days. We need to make sure personal protective equipment (PPE) for nurses is a top priority in this bill.

3,173 calls have already been made to senators through our COVID-19 hotline — but we need your help to reach our goal of 5,000 calls. Calling on our senators to act is how we are going to finally get the PPE that nurses so desperately need to safely care for our patients.

Our leaders in Washington have shown that they will take shortcuts in the midst of the pandemic, leaving nurses nationwide without the protective equipment we require. We are tired of the excuses, the waiting, and the false hope.

In order to provide the protections we need, Congress must include the following two elements in the next COVID-19 package:

1. Mandate the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to enact an emergency temporary infectious diseases standard.
2. Mandate the president to fully utilize the Defense Production Act to direct U.S. manufacturers to massively scale up production of PPE.

We are asking you to call and pressure your senators to finally follow through and protect nurses. Help us hit our goal of 5,000 calls through the hotline.

We need our lawmakers to step up and take action to keep nurses who are risking their lives on the front lines safe. If we don’t protect nurses, how will we protect our patients?

The more calls we make to senators now, the better our chances that Congress will act when they deliberate next week. The longer we wait, the more nurses go without PPE – risking infection and death from the virus.

Call your senators today so we can pressure each and every one of them to finally take action to mandate OSHA enact an emergency temporary infectious diseases standard and force the president to fully utilize the Defense Production Act.

In solidarity,

National Nurses United