For Immediate Release
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.
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