Nurses in Washington, D.C., rallied outside Howard University Hospital on Thursday over what their union calls "unsafe" working conditions, including nurses who are treating too many patients or working while sick.
Between shifts, dozens of District of Columbia Nurses of Association (DCNA) nurses put down their charts to pick up signs and raise concerns, part of a group of nurses demonstrating across the country to raise awareness about nursing staff issues.
Some nurses have been forced to use their own sick days and vacation days if they test positive for Covid-19 — or have even been told to return to work if they are asymptomatic.
Even as medical professionals at a suburban hospital deal with the daily challenge of a surge in COVID cases, several hundred nurses say they're being underpaid after a ransomware attack on the company that handles their paychecks.
The nurses, who work for Amita Health St. Joseph's Medical Center in Joliet, say that thousands are being impacted by the ransomware attack, with many health care professionals only receiving partial paychecks at a time when they're needed the most.
A group of nurses gathered in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday to speak out against new California state guidance that lets coronavirus-positive health care workers return to work amid the staffing shortages hitting hospitals.
The California Department of Public Health issued new guidance over the weekend that lets healthcare workers who test positive for the virus or are exposed to it to return to work immediately — without isolation and without testing — if they are asymptomatic and wearing N95 masks.
St. Petersburg Sen. Jeff Brandes is working with the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and St. Petersburg College to address a nursing shortage that he said is reaching a critical level.
As the region and state fight off the latest wave of Covid cases, Brandes said immediate action is needed to address the nursing shortage plaguing the country. Brandes hopes to accomplish this through local partnerships. Brandes pointed out that by 2030, virtually every baby boomer will be 65 or older, and the need for more nursing staff in Florida grows exponentially with each passing month.