Health care workers are still facing major shortages of N95 respirators, gowns and other safety gear, especially at hospitals in minority communities.
the situation is especially dire at hospitals serving communities of color or patients on Medicaid, NBC News has found.
A recent survey by the American Nurses Association found that 79 percent of nurses were encouraged, or even required, to reuse PPE, and 59 percent said they felt unsafe doing so. The survey included more than 14,000 nurses from all 50 states.were affecting many major hospitals. But most of those larger facilities have now been able to replenish their supplies.
And staff at some major hospitals are now being told that they can no longer wear N95 masks during their shifts if they work on floors that do not have COVID-19 patients, a new measure to conserve equipment. “It’s a huge problem,” he said. “At almost all facilities, they are forcing health care workers to reuse. Some are given one N95 a week.”Compounding the shortages at these hospitals is that the very population they serve are the ones most at risk for developing severe cases of COVID-19. Athat looked at a snapshot of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in March found that more than 30 percent are African American.
“They delayed cancer and other screenings as well as surgeries, so it’s critical that practices reopen but we are hearing from our colleagues across the country that they are having challenges,” she said., a nonprofit dedicated to securing PPE for those in need, said getting more supplies is nearly impossible for many of these facilities.
The solution is systemic change in the way PPE is distributed, something that needs to come at the federal level and something that should have happened months ago, both health care experts and union officials say.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Few N95 masks, reused gowns: Dire PPE shortages reveal COVID-19's racial divideHealth care workers are still facing major shortages of N95 respirators, gowns and other safety gear, especially at hospitals in minority communities.
Read more »
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff on basic income, N95 masks - Business InsiderBusiness Insider is a fast-growing business site with deep financial, media, tech, and other industry verticals. Launched in 2007, the site is now the largest business news site on the web.
Read more »
Macy’s Sees a Few Hopeful SignsCeo Jeff Gennette said the stores that have reopened are performing better than expected, and expects the improvement to continue.
Read more »
Few if any residents of remote Bolinas have been infected with coronavirus, study findsResidents of Marin County hamlet may have no COVID-19 antibodies.
Read more »
Trump Drives Economic Message as Poll Shows He Has Few StrengthsA Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll this week showed voters heavily prefer President Trump to handle the economy despite the recession, while favoring Joe Biden on nearly every other matter that the poll measured
Read more »
The Unmasking of America: How the Trump Administration's Negligence Deprived Healthcare Workers of N95 Masks in a PandemicThe Unmasking of America: How the Trump administration's negligence deprived healthcare workers of N95 masks in a pandemic
Read more »