Nurses’ lives depend on this

The following advertisement from National Nurses United has been sent to you via Mother Jones' email list. Mother Jones is a nonprofit, and most of our budget comes from readers like you, but revenue from advertisers helps us produce more of the hard-hitting journalism you expect. We never disclose your information to an advertiser. Mother Jones does not endorse any candidate, political organization, commercial product, or service, and the views expressed in this email do not constitute any endorsement or recommendation by Mother Jones. Demand COVID-19 protections for nurses Dear NNU members and supporters,  My name is Cathy Kennedy. I have been a registered nurse for 40 years—at Kaiser in Roseville, California for 38 of those years. My facility is the hospital where the first COVID-19 patient in California died on March 4.  You would think that back in early February, when we nurses started asking management to communicate openly, and to give us the training, staffing, and personal protective equipment (PPE) that we need, they would have done all of the above. They did not. When that first patient died, they could have taken our requests seriously—but they did not.  Now, as we face an unprecedented crisis, we’re still fighting to get what we need to care for our patients safely. NNU members and supporters, we need your voice right now.  [Sign the petition to Congress: I demand nurses are protected during COVID-19, because our lives depend on it.](  Kaiser Roseville nurses are not alone. From what we are hearing, nurses across the country are not getting the staffing, PPE, education, communication, and isolation rooms we need. And government agencies are not holding hospitals accountable for providing these things; the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently weakened its guidelines on infectious disease protections for health care workers--during a pandemic!  Our big fear is that hospitals will become disease vectors instead of centers of healing. And then who will care for our patients, when we nurses succumb to the disease or get sidelined?  [It’s outrageous, and it’s dangerous. But you can help. Join us in demanding Congress does everything in its power to protect nurses.](  Nurses face the unknown every day at work. So we are not afraid to care for our patients—if we have the protections we need to do our job. We must all stand united now, during COVID-19, as nurses demand to be protected, so that we can protect our patients and communities, in turn.  In solidarity,  Cathy Kennedy, RN Vice President, National Nurses United  Mother Jones and its nonprofit publisher, the Foundation for National Progress, do not endorse any political candidate, political organization, commercial product, process, or service, and the views expressed in this communication do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by Mother Jones. For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.](E2%80%8B) Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]() PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755