Nearly 20,000 nurses went on strike in California on Tuesday over patient care issues that included what their union views as insufficient protection for nurses who may care for patients stricken with the deadly Ebola virus, in a prelude to broader national protests expected on Wednesday.
The California-based nurses' union, National Nurses United, says hospitals still lack enough hazardous materials suits which leave no skin exposed and sufficient powered air-purifying respirators to properly protect nurses from exposure, according to breitbert.com.
The two-day California strike, by nurses whose union is in the midst of acrimonious contract talks, targeted 86 hospitals and clinics operated by Kaiser Permanente in the northern part of the state and two hospitals run by other health care providers, according to National Nurses United.
"Inadequate preparedness for Ebola symbolizes the erosion of patient care standards generally," National Nurses United spokesman Charles Idelson during the strike. "We have a lot of patient care issues that we have presented to them that they have stonewalled and ignored."
Most nurses in the campaign will not walk off the job but will hold rallies and demonstrations to bring the issue of inadequate Ebola protection to public attention, Idelson said. Some nurses will hold a vigil outside the White House.
The Ebola-related protests kicked off in the United States on Tuesday, when National Nurses United said nearly 20,000 nurses began a two-day strike in California. Their local union is also locked in acrimonious contract talks.
On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had ordered $2.7 million in personal protective equipment to help hospitals care for Ebola patients, in what the agency described as a limited supply of materials to meet the short-term needs of hospitals. A CDC representative could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
A Kaiser Permanente representative could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, but the organization has previously accused the union of using Ebola as a pretext to justify labor action.
National Nurses United contends that hospitals still do not have enough hazardous materials suits that leave no skin exposed nor enough powered air-purifying respirators to properly protect nurses from exposure to Ebola.
