Still a PPE shortage?

[Missingyou, CNA]

It's hard for me to believe that now, at the end of June, there is STILL a shortage of PPE.

I work in a long term care facility where we wear a KN 95 mask ( not fit tested, doesn't fit properly) for 5 12- hour shifts. We go in to care for covid19 positive residents & come out wearing the same mask, hang the gown on the outside of the door to reuse for 5 days & then enter the next non covid resident room to give care, wearing the SAME mask, not changing it at all.

......and they are wondering why our facility has the highest positive & death rate in the entire area of the state.

So, is there a shortage in a small town USA?

[scribblz, BSN, CNA, LPN]

4 hours ago, Missingyou said:

It's hard for me to believe that now, at the end of June, there is STILL a shortage of PPE.

I work in a long term care facility where we wear a KN 95 mask ( not fit tested, doesn't fit properly) for 5 12- hour shifts. We go in to care for covid19 positive residents & come out wearing the same mask, hang the gown on the outside of the door to reuse for 5 days & then enter the next non covid resident room to give care, wearing the SAME mask, not changing it at all.

......and they are wondering why our facility has the highest positive & death rate in the entire area of the state.

So, is there a shortage in a small town USA?

That's really troubling and unsafe for you and those you care for. What has management/ leadership for your facility said regarding their lack of PPE? Has the state's DPH looked into your facility because of their death rate?

I would strongly considering leaving for a more responsible facility for the sake of my family and personal health.

If I stayed I would buy my own disposable masks to wear over the poorly fitting KN 95 and a face shield or goggles off Amazon. You can get a 10 pack for $15.

Best of luck to you and stay safe!

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Yes, still a shortage due to worldwide Covid-19 virus requiring increased # staff needing to wear PPE.

[Missingyou, CNA]

So, I just read on 3M website, a company that makes N95 masks, As of June 2020 they have tripled their production of masks to 95 million a MONTH. A third of which are going to other countries.

[MeganMN]

Our hospital is still using the same n95 for a twelve hour shift, and rotating it for a total of five days of use before discarding.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

Clicking the link makes it easy to sign the petition. I also called the local offices of my senators.

Tell the U.S. Senate to pass critical protections for nurses

A recent survey of 23,000 nurses in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and four territories found that a whopping 87 percent of respondents reported having to reuse a single-use disposable respirator or mask with a COVID-19 patient. This is very unsafe and puts nurses at greater risk of contracting the virus....

... It is the responsibility of health care employers to provide safe workplaces, including proper PPE, to all their staff. The HEROES Act legislation passed by the House of Representatives includes key provisions that would finally get lifesaving PPE to frontline workers. The bill mandates an OSHA emergency temporary standard on infectious diseases to protect frontline workers and it establishes a transparent, efficient, and effective system to manage the medical supply chain and to ensure that the Defense Production Act is fully utilized to increase PPE production. Both of these measures will save the lives of our nurses across the country, and must be included in the Senate legislation...

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-the-us-senate-to-pass-critical-protections-for-nurses?source=direct_link&

[NurseBlaq]

Yes, it's still a thing because our current administration is incompetent.