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NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Shum Preston, 510-273-2276 or Liz Jacobs, 510-273-2232

Registered Nurses Announce Live Video Chat to Discuss Survey Data Finding Hospitals Unprepared for H1N1

Data from 190 Healthcare Facilities in Nine States from California to Maine

WASHINGTON

Registered nurses from the California Nurses
Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee will host a
live video chat for America's RNs this Friday at 12 noon to
present the results of a new survey on H1N1/swine flu
preparedness in American hospitals, and answer questions from
nurses. The RNs will also discuss their "careplan" to
ensure that our nation handles the H1N1 virus in a medically
appropriate manner.

WHAT: Registered Nurse Live Chat: Data on
Hospital Preparedness for H1N1

WHEN: Friday, August 28 - 12 Noon,
PST

WHERE: Log-in via www.CalNurses.org

The study, conducted at 190 healthcare facilities in nine
states found that a disturbing number of our nation's healthcare
facilities are not prepared for the coming H1N1/swine flu
pandemic, according to results released today by the California
Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee.

Key findings of the study included:

  • At more than one-fourth of the hospitals, nurses cite
    inadequate isolation of swine flu patients, increasing the risk
    of infection to others.
  • Nurses at 15 percent of hospitals do not have access to the
    proper respirator masks, exposing nurses and patients to
    infection; at up to 40 percent of the hospitals, nurses are
    expected to reuse masks, in violation of Centers for Disease
    Control guidelines.
  • At 18 percent of the hospitals, RNs report that nurses have
    become infected; one Sacramento, Calif. RN has already
    died.

National Nurses United, with close to 185,000 members in every state, is the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in US history.

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