HR6139/S.3475: The COVID-19 Health Care Worker Protection Act
On March 23, 2020, National Nurses United sent a petition to the United States Congress demanding that Congress ensure that nurses and healthcare workers are immediately given protections needed to avoid exposure to COVID-19.
The push for passing this legislation comes from hospitals across the country having inadequate personal protective equipment, employer failures to ensure safe staffing levels, employer failures to provide adequate training and education on patient care and protections for COVID-19 patients, and inadequate amounts of isolation rooms needed for safe patient care.
The petition called on Congress to mandate that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) promulgate an emergency temporary standard for health care workers in the third COVID-19 stimulus package currently being negotiated. The legislation would mandate an emergency temporary OSHA standard so that health care workers working directly with COVID-19 patients have the necessary personal protective equipment needed to prevent spread and contraction of the virus.
For more information and to find updates on NNU’s efforts in passing this legislation, please visit: https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/nurses-send-petition-congress-demanding-immediate-protections-during-covid-19-outbreak