"..I'll never forget the voices of distraught nurses.., scared they would succumb not just to #COVID, but to inaction an [View all]

It is a few months old but still tells the TRUTH.


For the rest of my life, I’ll never forget the voices of distraught nurses on the other end of the phone, scared they would succumb not just to #COVID, but to inaction and indifference from the #Trump administration.

Link to tweet

Donald Trump Showed His Disregard for Nurses. Kamala Harris Will Prioritize the Nation’s Health

https://time.com/collection/time100-voices/7015492/nurses-union-endorses-kamala-harris/

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, 2024. Al Drago/
By Bonnie Castillo
August 29, 2024 11:08 AM EDT

During every presidential election, voters must ask themselves: Are we better off today than we were four years ago? For the nation’s nurses, the answer is an unequivocal yes.

As executive director of National Nurses United, the largest U.S. union of registered nurses—and as an RN myself—I remember all too well what nurses were facing in 2020 when Donald Trump was President. Four years ago this month, nurses across the U.S. were completely overwhelmed by the horrors of early COVID-19. Hospitals were overflowing with sick patients and people were dying at terrifying rates. Nurses were constantly at risk of illness and death because our employers failed to get us the personal protective equipment and implement the infection control procedures we needed to stay safe ourselves and to keep our patients and families safe.

I remember the gut-wrenching sadness and anger the day I got the call that our first NNU nurse member, Noel Sinkiat, had died of COVID-19. And that intense feeling of grief and fury only grew as NNU members like RN Celia Yap-Banago demanded PPE—and died without ever receiving it. For the rest of my life, I’ll never forget the voices of distraught nurses on the other end of the phone, scared they would succumb not just to COVID, but to inaction and indifference from the Trump administration.

The Trump administration failed to take action to prevent and respond to this catastrophe. Trump refused to listen to nurses. Or doctors. Or science. He repeatedly ignored the danger and ridiculed the established science on how to deal with communicable diseases.

In some cities, so many people were dying that hospitals had to set up portable morgues outside. The importance of public policy is crystalized when you’re the one zipping up the body bags
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Nurses in this country agree: going back is not an option for the health and wellbeing of our patients and communities. We’ll be voting for Kamala Harris this November, and we urge you to do the same.