Nearly 100 union nurses from multiple Providence facilities were joined by Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor and Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran at a Feb. 5 rally outside Providence Portland Medical Center to demand basic COVID-19 safety protections for the more than 4,000 nurses in the Providence system.
Oregon Nurses Association has been pushing for COVID-19 safety measures since May 31, 2020. Demands include presumptive eligibility for workers’ compensation if they contract COVID-19; guaranteed access to point-of-care COVID testing; the right to adequate personal protective equipment; and additional paid time off to care for themselves and their families if they get COVID.
“It’s not enough to simply say ‘nurses are our heroes,’” said Meieran, an emergency room doctor. “We need to show you we have your backs. It’s unacceptable that 11 months in, nurses would still be struggling to implement safety measures.”
