MA nurses forced out of ER

[LucyGoosey]

1.) Nurses say emergency room is creating allergic reactions

ROBIN LORD, Cape Cod Times 2/18/03

HYANNIS, MA - Edna Wall RN forced out of job as an emergency room nurse, a job she has held since 1978.

Wall suffers reactions to unknown culprit in ER that has affected about 25 workers in varying degrees over the past two or three years.

Mary, another nurse with serious reactions says that "A lot of workers aren't filling out the incident reports because they don't want to lose their jobs."

I'm afraid my throat is going to swell closed," Wall said. She claims the incident followed two-year progression of increasingly severe allergic reactions to something while she was at work. Burning skin, itchy eyes, inflamed sinuses and edema that caused her body to swell were some of her symptoms.

"You stand there and you can feel something crawling on your skin," she said.

Marilyn Rouette, who is MA Nurses Association rep confirmed "quite a few people" have had symptoms to one degree or another. Confirms 3 nurses forced out of jobs by it.

Formal complaint submitted to federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. MA Nurses Association and members of Service Employees International Union, represented on a steering committee to investigate.

Ceiling leaks reported. Edna Wall, RN convinced the problem related to mold and/or leaks from ceiling in ER.

[mattsmom81]

Glad they finally called OSHA. Black mold is popping up now as a very difficult problem to correct....and many homeowners and business owners are finding themselves uninsurable because of the mold. It is causing health problems as well.

I find as I get older I am more sensitive to the strong industrial solvents hospitals use....probably due to years of exposure and a stressed immune system. Hope these nurses get the problem corrected.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Also think of latex sensitivity here too.

[SmilingBluEyes]

I am glad one of the hospitals where I work is latex-free. They all need to go that way, if you ask me. Not just to protect the patient, but US, who handle it day by day! Hope they figure out that ER problem.