Nurse Mike Gulick was meticulous about not bringing the coronavirus home to his wife and their 2-year-old daughter. He鈥檇 stop at a hotel after work just to take a shower. He鈥檇 wash his clothes in Lysol disinfectant. They did a tremendous amount of handwashing.
In this image provided by Lizabeth Baker Wade, nurses at Providence Saint John鈥檚 Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., on April 10, 2020, raise their fists in solidarity after telling managers they can鈥檛 care for COVID-19 patients without N95 respirator masks to protect themselves. The hospital has suspended ten nurses from the ward, but has started providing nurses caring for COVID-19 patients with N95 masks. (Lizabeth Baker Wade via AP)
But at Providence Saint John鈥檚 Health Center in Santa Monica, California, Gulick and his colleagues worried that caring for infected patients without first being able to don an N95 respirator mask was risky.
The N95 mask filters out 95% of all airborne particles, including ones too tiny to be blocked by regular masks. But administrators at his hospital said they weren鈥檛 necessary and didn鈥檛 provide them, he said.
His wife, also a nurse, not only wore an N95 mask but covered it with a second air-purifying respirator while she cared for COVID-19 patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center across town in Los Angeles.
Then, last week, a nurse on Gulick鈥檚 ward tested positive for the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. The next day doctors doing rounds on their ward asked the nurses why they weren鈥檛 wearing N95 masks, Gulick said, and told them they should have better protection.
For Gulick, that was it. He and a handful of nurses told their managers they wouldn鈥檛 enter COVID-19 patient rooms without N95 masks.
鈥淚 went into nursing with a passion for helping those who are most vulnerable and being an advocate for those who couldn鈥檛 have a voice for themselves, but not under the conditions we鈥檙e currently under,鈥� Gulick said.
The hospital suspended him and nine colleagues, according to the National Nurses United, which represents them. Ten nurses are now being paid but are not allowed to return to work pending an investigation from human resources, the union said.
They are among hundreds of doctors, nurses and other health care workers across the country who say they鈥檝e been asked to work without adequate protection. Some have taken part in protests or lodged formal complaints. Others are buying or even making their own supplies.
Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention don鈥檛 require N95 masks for COVID-19 caregivers, but many hospitals are opting for the added protection because the infection has proven to be extremely contagious. The CDC said Wednesday at least 9,200 health care workers have been infected.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
Saint John鈥檚 said in a statement that as of Tuesday it was providing N95 masks to all nurses caring for COVID-19 patients and those awaiting test results. The statement said the hospital had increased its supply and was disinfecting masks daily.
鈥淚t鈥檚 no secret there is a national shortage,鈥� said the statement. The hospital would not comment on the suspended nurses.
Angela Gatdula, a Saint John鈥檚 nurse who fell ill with COVID-19, said she asked hospital managers why doctors were wearing N95s but nurses weren鈥檛. She says they told her that the CDC said surgical masks were enough to keep her safe.
Then she was hit with a dry cough, severe body aches and joint pain.
鈥淲hen I got the phone call that I was positive I got really scared,鈥� she said.
She鈥檚 now recovering and plans to return to work next week.
鈥淭he next nurse that gets this might not be lucky. They might require hospitalization. They might die,鈥� she said.
As COVID-19 cases soared in March, the U.S. was hit with a critical shortage of medical supplies including N95s, which are mostly made in China. In response, the CDC lowered its standard for health care workers鈥� protective gear, recommending they use bandannas if they run out of the masks.
Some exasperated health care workers have complained to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
鈥淚 鈥� fear retribution for being a whistleblower and plead to please keep me anonymous,鈥� wrote a Tennessee medical worker, who complained staffers were not allowed to wear their own masks if they weren鈥檛 directly treating COVID-19 patients.
In Oregon, a March 26 complaint warned that masks were not being provided to nurses working with suspected COVID-19 patients. Another Oregon complaint alleged nurses 鈥渁re told that wearing a mask will result in disciplinary action.鈥�
One New Jersey nurse who asked not to be named out of fear of retribution, said she was looking for a new job after complaining to OSHA.
鈥淒o I regret filing the complaint? No, at least not yet,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 know it was the right thing to do.鈥�
Some are taking to the streets.
On Wednesday, nurse unions in New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, California, and Pennsylvania scheduled actions at their hospitals and posted on social media using hashtag 鈥淧PEoverProfit.鈥� PPE, or personal protective equipment, refers to items such as masks and gowns.
Nurses at Kaiser Permanente鈥檚 Fresno Medical Center in central California demanded more protective supplies at a protest during their shift change Tuesday. The hospital, like many in the U.S., requires nurses to use one N95 mask per day, which has raised concerns about carrying the infection from one patient to the next.
Ten nurses from the facility have tested positive with COVID-19, Kaiser said. Three have been admitted to the hospital and one is in critical care, protest organizers said.
Wade Nogy, a Kaiser senior vice president, denied union claims that nurses have been unnecessarily exposed.
鈥淜aiser Permanente has years of experience managing highly infectious diseases, and we are safely treating patients who have been infected with this virus, while protecting other patients, members and employees,鈥� Nogy said.
Amy Arlund, a critical care nurse at the facility, said that before the pandemic, following infection control protocols they鈥檙e currently using would have been grounds for disciplinary action.
鈥淎nd now it鈥檚 like they鈥檝e thrown all those standards out the window as if they never existed,鈥� Arlund said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 beyond me.鈥�