NY Nurse: April 2020

Nurses have been on frontlines in this crisis. We’ve seen firsthand just how deadly COVID-19 can be.

Despite our repeated warnings, public health officials and elected leaders were unprepared for this pandemic. We can never let that happen again.

Here are some of the things New York must to do to move forward and reopen. Anything less means we’re likely sacrificing thousands more New Yorkers to this deadly disease.

NYSNA nurses helped save the lives of 58,950 COVID-19 patients, according to the data of May 3, 2020. Against the odds, nurses persevered in very difficult conditions and, while the number of patients who died from the virus is substantial — 19,189 — many lives were saved, and the work of saving lives continues.

“I’ve learned about, witnessed, and experienced injustices firsthand. Whether they’ve been big or small injustices, I’ve often found the courage to speak out against what I knew was wrong. But I’ve only felt powerful enough to actually change things as part of a movement.”
– Michelle Crentsil

This year we commemorate National Nurses Week from May 6-12 in a solemn spirit. We remember friends and colleagues who have died on the front lines of the enduring battle against Covid-19. We honor the courage and commitment of our nurses who report to work daily at great risk to their health.

There is good cause to celebrate our work. Here in New York, 58,950 patients, hospitalized with the COVID-19 infection, recovered.

Our fight for adequate PPE — and for all that's needed to protect ourselves and our patients — resonates in New York and around the country.

Two very important days just passed as we go to print: April 28 and May 1. Their significance cannot be understated in this current climate.

April 28 is Workers Memorial Day. In Canada it is commemorated as a National Day of Mourning. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO):