US Nurses Demand Action Amid Staffing Crisis In Hospitals Flooded With Omicron Patients

Faizan Hashmi Published January 14, 2022 | 01:10 AM

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2022) National Nurses United, the largest organization of registered nurses in the United States, on Thursday urged President Joe Biden and the healthcare industry to take action on a staffing crisis in hospitals flooded with Omicron patients.

"On Jan. 13, 2022, National Nurses United (NNU) registered nurses will hold a national day of action to demand the hospital industry invest in safe staffing, and to demand that President Biden follow through on his campaign promise to protect nurses and prioritize public health," the organization said in a press release.

Nurses are expected to take part in demonstrations that will take place inside and outside about 33 hospitals across the United States, according to the NNU's announcement.

US nurses are gravely concerned that the healthcare industry cares more about profits than saving lives and doesn't take any steps to hire more medical personnel, or to provide a high degree of protection to those at the forefront of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, NNU president, said during a virtual press conference on Thursday.

"We have been traumatized and morally injured by the way our employers chose, yes chose not to protect us by denying us optimal personal protective equipment, testing, exposure notification, infection control measures and the list goes on," Triunfo-Cortez said.

The NNU president of California, Cathy Kennedy, shared a story that took place a few days ago, of a nurse from the city of Modesto who was back at work 24 hours after she tested positive for COVID-19.

"We are on fire because without protections, inadequate staffing nurses are getting sick. We're in crisis," a nurse from the US state of Michigan told the press conference.

The United States is going through an unprecedented surge in new COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. On Monday, the seven-day average of new cases reached 751,000 with about 146,000 hospitalizations, according to data compiled by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.