CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Today, many nurses nationwide took part in an event called 'May Day,' as part of 'International Workers Day,' demanding more personal protection equipment at their work.
The movement happening across 140 hospitals in 13 states, representing more than 95,000 nurses according to the group 'National Nurses United.'
At the local level, the event was held outside Corpus Christi Medical Center's Bay Area Hospital. We heard from CCMC Registered Nurse Kimberly Smith who told us the need for more protection is constant.
"Better to have too much than too little that way going in we can feel like we can be the safest we can be that the PPE, N95, everything we need is right there, its available to us, we're ready to keep ourselves safe, and the community safe," Smith said.
We also spoke with a Critical Care Nurse Practitioner in the ICU at CCMC. He says his staff and the center do have the supplies and the capacity to keep staff and patients protected.
"I have been on the front line here at CCMC since day 1 of this pandemic in the ICU with our COVID-19 patients, and the CCMC has more than exceeded our need for personal protection equipment for myself and the staff," Robert Galbreath said.
The hospital releasing a statement in response to the 'May Day,' event:
"Since the onset of this global pandemic, which has strained the worldwide supply of Personal Protective Equipment, Corpus Christi Medical Center’s goal has been to protect our front line clinicians and caregivers so they are able to continue to care for our patients and community. Meanwhile, this union is trying to exploit the crisis to advance its own interests organizing more members. We are proud of the support our hospital is providing to our nurses who exhibit amazing courage every day in meeting the challenges of this health crisis. Our efforts to protect our colleagues while at work and at home include:
- A universal masking policy implemented in March requiring all staff in all areas to wear masks, including N95s, in line with CDC guidance
- Screening for all patients, visitors and staff before entering facilities·
- For colleagues with reduced hours due to the pandemic, we instituted a pandemic pay program that continues to pay colleagues with reduced hours 70 percent of their pay for up to 7 weeks.
In addition, we provide cleaned hospital scrubs each shift for colleagues who care for COVID-19 patients to help prevent potentially carrying the virus home on clothing. We are also working with major hotel chains to provide housing for caregivers who provide care to COVID-19 patients and prefer not to go home to their loved ones after their shift. While our hospital currently has adequate supplies of PPE, we continue to provide safeguards that are consistent with CDC guidelines and help ensure the protection of our colleagues, not only today, but into the future as the pandemic continues to evolve."
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
More from 3News on KIIITV.com: