by Ashley Bulayo
Photo of Zenei Triunfo-Cortez. RN National Nurses United president and California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee president
As we approach almost a full year of the COVID-19 pandemic, life, business, and mindset have shifted, for the most part. What was previously deemed essential to many has changed in its meaning. On a much larger and even global scale, what we know is that the role of essential workers and front liners has become a pillar to existence and survival. One of those roles includes our nurses. In a conversation with the California Nurses Association, it was brought to the surface that our nurses need our help to champion and advocate for their rights and their continuous fight for ours. While they've showcased resilience, bravery, and the ultimate strength in the throes of the ongoing pandemic, here’s the harrowing perspective that has rarely hit mainstream media.
National Nurses United President and California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee President, Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, RN, shared that, "The Covid-19 pandemic has been a complete and unnecessary tragedy for registered nurses, both in terms of losing patients and also contracting the virus themselves, spreading it to family members. Sometimes they have even died from it or lost colleagues to COVID. Nurses knew long before the pandemic that the corporate health care industry prioritizes profits over patients, but COVID exacerbated the deadliness of this money motive – with disproportionate numbers of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people of color as well as nurses of color suffering from and dying of this virus."
Nurses fight for human rights
California Nurses Association (CNA) sees firsthand the racial, gender, and social inequalities in the California health care system. Many studies have shown that at-risk, low-income Californians, specifically Black and Latino, are dying at higher rates than higher-income individuals.
Social distancing, wearing masks, and staying at home are still critical to preventing the spread of COVID-19. However, low-income residents don't always have the luxury to implement these measures. Low-income Californians are likely to play the roles of essential workers with low-wage jobs that require frequent contact with others. Working remote and distancing amongst members of a household are still privileges that are not afforded to our state’s most vulnerable.
Cars line up for a cause at the CalCare Caravan in Sacramento, CA. Photo from National Nurses United.
The CNA has seen these disparities and is fighting back. Health care is a human right. "Your job, health, income, and immigration status should not dictate what care you receive, and the profit motive has no business in the provision of health care," shares Triunfo-Cortez. "For decades, CNA nurses have been organizing to win a single-payer system for the entire country as well as the state of California. We are pleased to be the primary sponsor of AB 1400, the Guaranteed Health Care for All Act, or CalCare, during this current legislative session. CalCare would cover every person in California under an improved, expanded Medicare for All-type system."
Nurses fight for protection
Often, nurses are the first point of contact on the frontlines, play a critical role working in the system. According to an article in NCBI, some of the nurses’ primary responsibilities include:
Ensuring patients receive high-quality service
Maintaining effective supply and usage of sanitation materials
Offering screening information, confinement guidelines, and triage protocols based on the latest guidance
Nurses fight back. Photo from California Nurse Association.
Beyond the physical danger of risking their own health, nurses have been bearing heavy emotional burdens of watching patients and their families suffer at the hands of this virus. Compounded, the detrimental toll these can take on a person are unimaginable. Yet, day after day, they continue to show up and support patients who need them.
Triunfo-Cortez notes that nurses have been lobbying health care employers and government officials to enforce proper workplace measures. Proper infection control measures need to be implemented and enforced within nurses’ workplaces to protect the public health workers who battle the challenge of potentially contracting the virus. Union nurses are asking communities to amplify their message.
Take action today
Are there nurses you know and want to help protect? NationalNursesUnited.org provides email updates and opportunities to participate. By joining the Nurse Advocacy Network texting team, communities can support some of their most pressing campaigns and projects.