Kaiser Nurses March in Oakland to Demand Greater Safety for Treating Ebola

Kaiser Permanente nurses marched Thursday morning in downtown Oakland to call for increased resources and training to treat Ebola patients. Zenei Cortez, co-president of the California Nurses Association, said nurses are asking for the same kind of safety and training provided to hazardous materials workers who treat Ebola infected homes.

Following recent reports of nurses who became infected with ebola after treating a patient, nurses are asking for hands-on interactive training in how to handle possible Ebola cases, rather than the classroom training Kaiser is currently offering, Cortez said.

They want to learn how to safely put on and take off gear, and the protocol to properly dispose of contaminated gear. And if a hospital gets a patient, nurses want enough staff to be present to monitor the nurses to keep them safe, Cortez said. Cortez said nurses chose to march Thursday to Kaiser’s regional office at 1950 Franklin St. because they were “outraged” that Kaiser responded by saying it would have to consider the economic impact of the nurses’ demands before providing the resources.

“It was a spontaneous event,” she said. Close to 550 people marched before the union went into labor contract negotiations with the company at the Oakland Marriott Hotel at 11th and Broadway, Oakland, Cortez said.

Kaiser officials had not made a decision on the nurses’ demands as of this afternoon, but issued a statement saying that they had updated infectious disease protocols in mid-August, and that the personal protective equipment provided staff meets or exceeds standards set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

“We share our nurses’ concern, along with all of our care provider’s and staff who work in our facilities, that the necessary steps are taken to protect their colleagues and our patients from infection with Ebola virus,” said the statement from Gay Westfall, senior vice president for human resources, Kaiser Permanente Northern California. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., marched with the nurses in Oakland and then spoke to them, endorsing their demands.

Cortez said people have been quick to blame the nurses for the treatment of the patient in Dallas who died of Ebola. Instead, she blamed the lack of standards in Dallas, compared to the hospital at Emory University in Atlanta where no nurses were infected with Ebola.

“We want the same standards for all nurses,” Cortez said. The California Nurses Association represents about 18,000 nurses.

By Bay City News

Photo via Shutterstock.

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