School nurses are being deployed to work in hospitals, basic drug supplies are being depleted in the city's hospitals and entire hospitals are being converted to treat only patients with COVID-19.
"The sole purpose is to defeat this insidious enemy. We're in a war. We're in a world of survival," said RN Anne Goldman, director of NYSUT's Health Care Professionals Council and United Federation of Teachers vice president for non-DOE employees, including nurses. "In no way, shape or form has anything we anticipated challenged us like this."
The first wave of UFT school nurses have been in hospitals about a week now. They were notified last Friday that they needed to report to hospitals to provide care; orientation was provided on the following Saturday and 140 of them went to work on Monday, Goldman said.
As the coronavirus attacks more and more people, health care is an ever-changing landscape. Doctors, nurses, first responders, virus test administrators, and health care staff are all working the front lines, often without enough personal protective equipment.
"Getting PPEs and equipment is a herculean chore," Goldman said.
How You Can Help
We urge our members to donate to the NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund.
Proceeds will go directly toward purchasing and providing Personal Protective Equipment, food and other supplies for all of our dedicated health care workers.
