NUHW demands proper tools and training to safely treat COVID-19 patients
NUHW President Sal Rosselli released this statement on Feb. 28, 2020:
Across the state, California’s hospital workers and caregivers want to meet the challenge of caring for patients with COVID-19, but to do so requires the tools and proper training to stay safe. We can’t assume that every clinic, nursing home and hospital is prepared.
Our union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, is formally requesting that hospitals, health clinics and nursing homes, where we represent staff, immediately provide detailed information about how they intend to identify and isolate patients with the coronavirus as well as their plans for training caregivers on how to avoid contracting the virus.
Several NUHW members have already treated patients with COVID-19 without having received any updated training for avoiding infection. Given recent instances from around the globe of caregivers being exposed to the coronavirus, we are putting our employers on notice that they can’t take shortcuts when it comes to the safety of their employees.