Nurses Week 2020 Updates . . . and Other HPAE News

HPAE Celebrates Nurses Week 2020

HPAE President Debbie White, RN, applauded members like Sharon Heath of Local 5621; Doris Bell of Local 5118; John Bauer of Local 5185; Lorna ‘Mickie’ Miquiabas of Local 5030; Tiffany Busby of Local 5058; Vivian Infante of Local 5030; and Wendy Bobcombe of Local 5089.

“Especially in these difficult and harrowing days, these members together exemplify the spirit of honor, sacrifice and service that runs deep in our union,” White said.

Visit HPAE website to see the posts.

Nurses Week 2020 Action

HPAE also launched an advertising campaign to urge supporters to write letters to their legislators telling them to approve legislation to provide resources that frontline healthcare workers need to in their heroic care of COVID-19 patients.

. . . Read more here.

Legislative updates

The Heroes Act: A bill proposed in by U.S. Representatives Donald Payne Jr. and Bonnie Watson-Coleman for inclusion in the next round of stimulus legislation would pay frontline healthcare workers an additional $15 an hour hazard pay on top of their regular pay. The overall bill faces considerable opposition from some in the United States Senate.

S2380: A bill under consideration in Trenton that concerns employment benefits for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections contracted by essential employees. The bill presumes that frontline workers who contracts the virus got it at work for the purposes of employment benefits, including but not limited to workers’ compensation benefits. Take Action to urge the NJ Senate to vote Yes on Thursday, May 14th.

S2384: A bill drafted by HPAE, and is now under consideration in Trenton, requires healthcare facilities in the state to report coronavirus (COVID-19) infections related to healthcare workers and certain first responders. The purpose of the bill is to collect data that would show what is going on now for analysis of what to do and not to do in future outbreaks. The bill is currently undergoing amendment in the State Senate to make it more meaningful.

COVID-19 Exposure Survey

If you haven’t done so already, please complete the COVID-19 Exposure Survey.

Click here to complete the survey.

As New Jersey’s Healthcare Heroes battle daily on the COVID-19 pandemic frontlines, HPAE is getting out the message that healthcare workers must get all the resources necessary for this battle and battles to come.

It has been a struggle to get many of our employers to provide appropriate and required personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. Employers are not telling us how many of us are infected with the virus or are actually sick. Our colleagues, meanwhile, continue to sacrifice and contract the virus in the line of duty.

The aggregate data from the survey will be used in our advocacy to protect healthcare workers during any pandemic outbreak. We will not share anyone’s personal information.

Sen. Booker joined HPAE telephone Town Hall to help celebrate Nurses Week 2020

U.S. Senator Cory Booker joined HPAE for a telephone town hall on the night of Wednesday, May 6, 2020 to help kick off Nurses Week 2020 and give an update on federal efforts to support frontline caregivers during the pandemic.

“Healthcare workers deserve to have access to every tool possible to safeguard their own wellbeing while caring for patients on the frontlines of this pandemic,” Booker said.

Q104.3 FM Host interviewed HPAE Local 5089 VP Herndon on Sunday about working on the COVID-19 pandemic frontline

HPAE Local 5089 Vice-President Banita Herndon was guest at 7 a.m. on Sunday, May 10, 2020 on Shelli Sonstein’s Q104.3 FM Radio show. Herndon, a longtime University of Newark Hospital Emergency Room nurse, spoke about her work on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic and coping after testing positive for the virus.

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