I got a call from one of our VNA nurses today. She asked if there was a new law that a pharmacy couldn’t deliver over the counter medications to homes. I have not heard about this but Teri and Jim will look into it.
She ended up going into the pharmacy and spending her own money so her patients would have what they need. She also told me about having to buy socks for one patient because he can’t get his laundry done in the pandemic.
She went on to tell me how hard it is to see her patients suffer in this pandemic. How families are afraid to get close to their loved ones to give them food, water and medicine and how she needs to spend a lot of time educating them on how they can continue to help if they follow certain practices.
She also told me of sitting with family members as they made tough end of life decisions and not being able to hug them or even hold their hands.
This is a tough nurse, but the strain is evident and understandable. Our healthcare workers are fighting a battle without the proper PPE. A disease that has killed tens of thousands of Healthcare workers across the globe. They worry about contracting it. They worry about spreading it from patient to patient. They worry about bringing it home.
They never signed up to be heroes.
We are 43 days since our first confirmed case in Connecticut
59, 759 have been tested
17,962 have been positive
1901 are currently hospitalized. Down 37
1127 have died, 41 today.
Randi wrote a nice blog about how AFT members are responding in this pandemic. In it she says, “In crises, there are always helpers and heroes. I am eternally grateful to my members — and so many others — who have been both. Their selfless acts and collective heroism leave us with a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.”
Read the blog at:
This article in the Washington Post talks about how our Windham Hospital members are pushing back by filing an OSHA complaint:
Please be careful and take care of yourselves.
John
Reminder:
I am reaching our to leaders to see if you would be comfortable in doing any or all of the following. We currently have a request from Connecticut legislative friends for healthcare leaders to speak out against reopening our state too quickly and what that might mean for a rebound of cases, but we also get other requests.
1. 30 second video for FB/Twitter/Press
2. Letters to the editor
3. Speaking to reporters (either on or off the record)
4. Sending internal messages to your members (many already doing this)
Just email or text me to let me know, or if any of your members are up to it.
Please give me as much info as you can about what the different hospital systems are doing as far as Workers Comp on these points:
1. Are members being put on Paid Administrative Leave if they are Covid positive/out sick?
2. Are member’s medical bills being covered by the hospital?
3. Are members having problems with the healthcare systems trying to say an illness was not acquired at work?
I need to get these answers to the Governor’s office ASAP. Thank you to those who have responded.
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