This is Bull

Nurses COVID

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To Whom it may concern,

My wife and I are both nurses. This week she brought up her concern for not having the proper equipment to take care of COVID-19 patients. One of the managers actually said, “Everyone is going to get this anyway.” They currently are implementing a plan to wear HOMEMADE CLOTH MASKS. I am not kidding. This is their plan for the surgical mask shortage. Forget about getting an N95 mask. NURSES SHOULD BE PISSED! We took the so called “oath” in the U.S.A., the richest country in the world and the one with the best health care systems. Right? We thought protective gear would be available to us at all times. Upper management and CEOs should be held negligent for not being prepared. Instead they are sending their staff threatening emails while they hide in their billion dollar office buildings with rivers and waterfalls built right inside of them! Nurses are sent into dangerous conditions with in some cases now NO protective gear at all! We are risking the health of ourselves, our patients and our families. Don't tell me that they didn't know this was coming! As far as I'm concerned, every hospital that runs out of masks and vents should be held criminally accountable for their greed and lack of preparation! Check out this simple time-line:

2002 SARS outbreak;

2005 Bird Flu;

2009 H1N1;

2014 Ebola;

2015 Milton Johnson HIGHEST PAID CEO IN HEALTH CARE! Hospital Corporation of America gets a 20% bonus bringing his total compensation up from $14.6 million in 2014 to $17.8 million;

2015 Toby Cosgrove CEO Cleveland Clinic Base Pay: $4.5 million RANKED #2 hospital in the world;

2019 Gianrico Farrugia CEO Mayo Clinic Base Pay: $1.91 million Ranked #1 hospital in the world;

Average cost of an N95 mask: $0.75-$1.50

Average cost of a top of the line ventilator: $20,000-$40,000

I'll let you do the math...and these wonderful individuals had no idea something like this could ever happen. Right?

I will leave you with this telling quote in light of the COVID-19 pandemic right off of the highest paid health care CEO's website https://hcahealthcare.com/care-like-no-other/stories/resilience.dot

...“In the face of a threat, we don’t panic, we prepare.”

You sure as HELL have NOT prepared. They have all been getting filthy rich off the backs of nursing and now they threaten our jobs. Some of us WILL die because of this! Many people are saying that not many will die from COVID-19 but what about next time. To them you are expendable as long as they get their bonuses at the end of the year. What a sad state of the health care system and humanity we have become.

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Specializes in Pediatric.

It didn’t help that a good majority of masks were locked up in China. Then the public was ordering directly from the company. CEOs should take a tax deduction and fork over the ransom money for the PPE, ventilators, and new storage room be built for the equipment when not using.

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Specializes in ICU,Tele,Interventional Radiology,PACU,Research.

Unfortunately this what happens when a health care system is turned into a for profit organization. We are not prepared,this pandemic will highlight just how dysfunctional things are and greedy these corporations are. If you have to wear a cloth mask,it is time to walk away. You know CDC/WHO/OSHA guidelines do not recommend that as PPE.

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I have known all of this long before COVID, it just so hard to watch everything play out. The higher ups don't want to lose their jobs so they are pushing the agenda. Since they aren't on the front lines, they remain unaffected by COVID. I say do what is best for you because management/higher ups are doing what is best for them.

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If nothing else, nurses need to unite and create a nationwide union when this catastrophe is under control. Everyone has abandoned nurses. BONs have been silent, the licensing boards have been silent, they've all gone radio silent! CEOs are exposing their greed and hatefulness.

As nurses, we're always putting others before ourselves. When this is under control, and there will be a day it will be under control, we collectively need to demand higher pay and more protections. Almost daily there are news reports of medical professionals becoming gravely ill and/or dying due to lack of appropriate protections and patients are dying in record numbers. Granted, some will die due to compounded issues, but we're over 100k cases and vents will be needed but they're unavailable.

It will get much worse before it gets better. Nurses will have PTSD when this is done, especially since many are losing coworkers, friends, and family to this virus yet having to work through it without time to grieve. It's even more of a struggle knowing we've been let down on multiple administrative levels, including the government.

Can we skip to the end date already? My anxiety is through the roof. ?

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On 3/21/2020 at 3:17 PM, j1m2f3 said:

To Whom it may concern,

My wife and I are both nurses. This week she brought up her concern for not having the proper equipment to take care of COVID-19 patients. One of the managers actually said, “Everyone is going to get this anyway.” They currently are implementing a plan to wear HOMEMADE CLOTH MASKS. I am not kidding. This is their plan for the surgical mask shortage. Forget about getting an N95 mask. NURSES SHOULD BE PISSED! We took the so called “oath” in the U.S.A., the richest country in the world and the one with the best health care systems. Right? We thought protective gear would be available to us at all times. Upper management and CEOs should be held negligent for not being prepared. Instead they are sending their staff threatening emails while they hide in their billion dollar office buildings with rivers and waterfalls built right inside of them! Nurses are sent into dangerous conditions with in some cases now NO protective gear at all! We are risking the health of ourselves, our patients and our families. Don't tell me that they didn't know this was coming! As far as I'm concerned, every hospital that runs out of masks and vents should be held criminally accountable for their greed and lack of preparation! Check out this simple time-line:

2002 SARS outbreak;

2005 Bird Flu;

2009 H1N1;

2014 Ebola;

2015 Milton Johnson HIGHEST PAID CEO IN HEALTH CARE! Hospital Corporation of America gets a 20% bonus bringing his total compensation up from $14.6 million in 2014 to $17.8 million;

2015 Toby Cosgrove CEO Cleveland Clinic Base Pay: $4.5 million RANKED #2 hospital in the world;

2019 Gianrico Farrugia CEO Mayo Clinic Base Pay: $1.91 million Ranked #1 hospital in the world;

Average cost of an N95 mask: $0.75-$1.50

Average cost of a top of the line ventilator: $20,000-$40,000

I'll let you do the math...and these wonderful individuals had no idea something like this could ever happen. Right?

I will leave you with this telling quote in light of the COVID-19 pandemic right off of the highest paid health care CEO's website https://hcahealthcare.com/care-like-no-other/stories/resilience.dot

...“In the face of a threat, we don’t panic, we prepare.”

You sure as HELL have NOT prepared. They have all been getting filthy rich off the backs of nursing and now they threaten our jobs. Some of us WILL die because of this! Many people are saying that not many will die from COVID-19 but what about next time. To them you are expendable as long as they get their bonuses at the end of the year. What a sad state of the health care system and humanity we have become.

Really EXCELLENT article! I applaud you, j1m2f3! Thank you for saying what needs to be said & saying it very well! May God help & protect nurses! The neglect of those over them who demand the sacrifice of their very lives is unconscionable!

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.

American hospitals were relieved of the responsibility and obligation to prepare and stock for a pandemic by the current administration.

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/26/862018484/trump-team-killed-rule-designed-to-protect-health-workers-from-pandemic-like-cov

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

OSHA: Safety and Health Topics | COVID-19 - Standards .

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/standards.html

Quote

Workers’ Rights and Employers’ Responsibilities

Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 USC 660(c), prohibits employers from retaliating against workers for raising concerns about safety and health conditions. Additionally, OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program enforces the provisions of more than 20 industry-specific federal laws protecting employees from retaliation for raising or reporting concerns about hazards or violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health insurance reform, motor vehicle safety, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime, securities, and tax laws. OSHA encourages workers who suffer such retaliation to submit a complaint to OSHA as soon as possible in order to file their complaint within the legal time limits, some of which may be as short as 30 days from the date they learned of or experienced retaliation. An employee can file a complaint with OSHA by visiting or calling his or her local OSHA office; sending a written complaint via fax, mail, or email to the closest OSHA office; or filing a complaint online. No particular form is required and complaints may be submitted in any language.

OSHA provides recommendations intended to assist employers in creating workplaces that are free of retaliation and guidance to employers on how to properly respond to workers who may complain about workplace hazards or potential violations of federal laws. OSHA urges employers to review its publication: Recommended Practices for Anti-Retaliation Programs (OSHA 3905 - -01/2017).

OSHA Office locator: https://www.osha.gov/contactus/bystate

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