Nurses facing medical supply shortages at hospitals across the United States and several are being suspended for refusing to treat patients infected with the coronavirus.
Due to the low supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) — which includes N95 respirator masks — nurses are being asked to treat people without the N95 masks, putting themselves at risk. Upon refusal to treat the patients without the higher-standard masks, 10 nurses at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in California have been suspended, according to the National Nurses Union.
In recent days, the Providence said that nurses will be given N95 masks to wear while treating someone who either has or potentially has the coronavirus. However, as of Tuesday, the 10 nurses were still suspended due to a pending investigation.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines do not specifically require N95 masks for healthcare professionals treating patients battling coronavirus, hospital workers are noting the highly contagious nature of the virus.
Also, their level of exposure is increased while being in close proximity to multiple infected patients for extended periods of time. As a result, they run the risk of taking the virus home to their family members and widening the spread.
On Saturday, nurses held a social distancing demonstration outside of Providence Saint John’s Health Center to confront the hospital system’s infection control policies.
It has been reported that the hospital did have N95 masks in its possession but the nurses treating coronavirus patients were denied access to them unless they were performing certain procedures.
.@MNnurses president to Minnesota lawmakers: We are at war. We are the nurses. We are on the front line. We head into the hospitals every day with what little PPE we have and that’s our armor.#ProtectNurses #COVID19 https://t.co/o0NJXoefWF
— NationalNursesUnited (@NationalNurses) April 15, 2020
Even after doctors reportedly advised unmasked nurses not to enter areas where coronavirus patients were housed and multiple nurses had tested positive, the suspended nurses were still denied masks.
Saint John’s Hospital released a statement confirming the national shortage is “no secret.” It also said that it has increased the supply of N95 masks.
The suspension reports follow many conflicting reports about medical supplies and testing capacity in the United States.
On April 7 President Donald Trump slammed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General Ann Maxwell following the release of a 41-page report detailing the medical shortages healthcare facilities are still facing despite Trump’s claims of shortages being resolved.
The report — which was comprised of responses from medical personnel at 323 hospitals, nationwide — highlighted the problems hospitals are facing amid the coronavirus outbreak.
In response to the report, Trump tweeted, “Why didn’t the I.G., who spent 8 years with the Obama Administration (Did she Report on the failed H1N1 Swine Flu debacle where 17,000 people died?), want to talk to the Admirals, Generals, V.P. [and] others in charge, before doing her report. Another Fake Dossier!”
Why didn’t the I.G., who spent 8 years with the Obama Administration (Did she Report on the failed H1N1 Swine Flu debacle where 17,000 people died?), want to talk to the Admirals, Generals, V.P. & others in charge, before doing her report. Another Fake Dossier!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2020
As of Wednesday, more than 9,200 healthcare workers have tested positive for coronavirus nationwide.
In fact, it was reported on April 6 that the Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital system had more than 700 workers who have tested positive, while another 1,500 have experienced coronavirus symptoms at Beaumont Health in Michigan, as previously reported on IJR.