We’re fighting for our lives, our livelihoods, our patients and even our hospitals. We’ve been fighting for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to keep ourselves safe, for adequate leave when we’re forced to quarantine, for our patients to be tested and for our hospitals to remain open and accessible for our patients’ care.
We’re still fighting for ourselves, our safety, our hospitals, and our patients.
For our lives and livelihoods
Nurses are still short-changed on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). We continue to re-use PPE beyond the manufacturer guidelines and lack the optimal PPE when caring for patients who may be COVID-positive.
When we were forced to quarantine or were waiting for a test during the pandemic, nurses sacrificed our pay and benefits. Nurses are still trying to get paid from employers for this time off because many large companies, like hospitals, weren’t mandated to pay us.
Throughout the pandemic, nurses have had to separate ourselves from our families to protect them from getting sick. And we’ve fought for more testing for ourselves to protect our families and communities.
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READ A NURSE’S STORY: Who’s got my back?
For our patients
Nurses have seen first-hand how this virus has attacked patients. We have literally cared for patients until the very end.
How are we fighting for you? We’ve fought for:
- More testing of patients
- More available vaccines
- More COVID units to properly care for patients
We continue to encourage the public to get the COVID vaccine. Nurses are still wearing masks and distancing ourselves to protect the public from any virus they might be carrying or any variant that people may be exposed to.
READ A NURSE’S STORY: Sharing the Experience of Rural Nurses During COVID-19 with the White House
READ A NURSE’S STORY: Our First Line of Defense
For our hospitals
Even before this pandemic, Minnesota hospitals have shut down and cut services to the communities that need them. Nurses are fighting the corporate healthcare mentality that is turning healthcare into assembly-line care.
Nurses continue to fight against the closings of hospitals and clinics across Minnesota. In 2020 alone, the Twin Cities metro area saw 21 clinic and hospital closures. Nurses have fought against the closings of hospitals, including Bethesda, Saint Joe’s, and Mayo’s facilities in greater Minnesota.
READ: MNA and SEIU Alarmed by Shortsighted Hospital Cuts to Bethesda and St. Joe’s