Nurses demand stricter protocols on Ebola

The top U.S. nurses union is launching a national campaign to demand tough, mandatory Ebola protocols at hospitals around the country.

National Nurses United (NNU) and its 185,000 members are organizing events in six major cities over the next week backing a petition that calls for better training and protective gear for workers involved in Ebola care.

{mosads}”We are asking everyone to sign our petition demanding the president, the Congress, and every hospital in the United States, ensure that optimal protections are implemented immediately,” said National Nurses United Co-President Jean Ross in a statement. “That is how we are going to contain Ebola and protect our patients.”

The union has strongly criticized the Obama administration’s response to the outbreak in the United States, and is working to be a thorn in the side of hospitals as public health officials warn of future cases. 

Its argument that a lack of preparedness puts medical workers at risk took on extra significance last week when two Dallas nurses were diagnosed with Ebola and moved to specialized care facilities in Atlanta and Bethesda, Md.

NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro called the nurses “heroic.”

“Not one more patient, nurse, or healthcare worker should be put at risk due to a lack of healthcare facility preparedness,” she wrote in a letter to the White House. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reportedly set to release more stringent guidelines for Ebola care on Monday, including a requirement that nurses be fully covered while interacting with patients.