Tualatin, Oregon (KTVZ)-The news that the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) did not adopt permanent standards to protect healthcare workers during COVID-19 is very disappointing, Oregon. The Association of Nurses said Thursday.
The full news release from the Nurses Union is:
The OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards for Health Care (ETS), which OSHA recently approved to expire, protects front-line healthcare workers facing extreme COVID-19 risks in hospitals, life support facilities, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities. Designed for. ETS provides essential safety for workers and employers, including infection prevention protocols, exposure notifications, illness education, personal protective equipment (PPE) standards, and regulations on support for healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 in the workplace. Provided the rules.
Healthcare professionals, especially frontline nurses, are experiencing unprecedented levels of physical and mental fatigue. They do not feel valued, protected and endorsed by their employers. In fact, frontline nurses are quitting their profession faster than ever before. If OSHA fails to extend the safety protection of COVID-19, it will only exacerbate the danger of staffing our nurses.
Oregon healthcare professionals are fortunate to set state COVID-19 safety standards through Oregon OSHA, and companies are responsible for some common-sense precautions. Oregon nurses believe that all healthcare professionals across the country deserve these same permanent safeguards.
Unfortunately, Oregon OSHA safety standards do not allow front-line healthcare professionals to provide paid leave if they become infected with COVID-19 at work. Nurses throughout the state have been denied benefits by hospitals and medical companies claiming that they did not have a COVID-19 infection at work. These total denials place front-line caregivers with an impossible burden of proof and ignore the risk of ongoing patient exposure. Federal ETS has resolved this issue and provided additional protection to front-line healthcare professionals who have served our community faithfully during this pandemic. Unless forced, it’s clear enough that a company won’t do the right thing. The federal OSHA was unable to extend safety measures, allowing medical institutions to continue devaluing nurses and other caregivers.
Nearly two years after this pandemic occurred, there are still no federal laws, rules, or standards to protect against financial harm in the event of a COVID-19 infection. Given that OSHA was unable to support and protect health care workers, the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) unconditionally sickly left frontline workers against the Governor, Oregon OSHA, and health care companies. We call for respect for the commitment of front-line healthcare professionals by providing the benefits of other health care removal. When they sign up for COVID-19.
“While the number of cases of COVID-19 is skyrocketing, safety standards cannot be extinguished. ONA spokesman Kevin Meeley said,” Infected with COVID-19 while caring for sick patients. Frontline healthcare professionals deserve the full protection and support of companies. “
### #
Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) The largest and most influential nursing organization in the state. We are a professional association and trade union representing 15,000 nurses and related healthcare professionals throughout the state. Our mission is to advocate nursing, quality health care and a healthy community. See below for more information. www.OregonRN.org..
