Gov. Jerry Brown to Meet with California/National Nurses Leaders Tuesday to Review Need for Higher Ebola Standards

Nurses: Make State National Model for Safety Protections

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Oct 18, 2014, 07:46 ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif, Oct. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- California Gov. Jerry Brown will meet with leaders of the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United Tuesday morning in Sacramento to review ways to make California the national leader in enacting the highest Ebola safety standards and protocols to protect nurses, other frontline health care workers, patients and the public.

After meeting with Gov. Brown, the NNU/CNA delegation will hold a press briefing outside the Governor's office to discuss what measures can substantially upgrade safety precautions in all California hospitals and other health facilities. The briefing for press will be held at approximately 11:30 a.m. outside the Governor's office in the State Capitol in Sacramento.

On Tuesday afternoon, NNU/CNA members will rally outside a meeting of the California Department of Industrial Relations in Oakland to demand California formally adopt the optimal safety standards, including Hazmat suits and accelerated hands-on training programs, mirroring protocols established at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, a premiere institution handling Ebola cases, or a higher standard.

Press Briefing with NNU/CNA leaders: Tuesday, October 21, 11:30 a.m., outside Governor's Office, State Capitol, Sacramento

Nurses Rally: 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 21, State Building, 1313 Clay St., Oakland. Prior to 2 p.m. Hearing, California Department of Industrial Relations, 1313 Clay St., 17^th Floor, Oakland

"California hospitals have been appallingly slow in moving to enact any effective protocols, much less the highest standards, in response to this virulent Ebola threat that has already infected two nurses in Dallas," said NNU and CNA Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro. "A continuing, cavalier, business-as usual-approach that is too often the standard mode of operation for these hospitals will put everyone at risk."

NNU has been calling on President Obama and Congress to mandate all U.S. hospitals to meet the highest "uniform, national standards and protocols" in order to "safely protect patients, all healthcare workers and the public."

NNU is asking members of the public to join in that call through an online petition which can be seen and signed at http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/page/s/national-nurses-united-urges-you-to-take-action-now?utm_source=nnu&utm_medium=btn&utm_campaign=petition

Key elements of the highest standards include optimal protective equipment, including Hazmat suits as used by Nebraska Medical Center and other premiere institutions, and continuous interactive hands-on training for RNs and other frontline health workers, including practice, in teams, putting on and taking off the proper protective gear.

NNU has escalated this demand since the infection of two RNs at a Dallas hospital where one patient has already died since contracting the Ebola virus.

"Not one more patient, nurse, or healthcare worker should be put at risk due to a lack of health care facility preparedness," DeMoro said in the letter to President Obama and Congress this week.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gov-jerry-brown-to-meet-with-californianational-nurses-leaders-tuesday-to-review-need-for-higher-ebola-standards-828888027.html

SOURCE National Nurses United