Hoosier Nurses Working Hard Amid Protection Concerns

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week eased its guidance on face masks for health care workers treating patients with coronavirus. The change has some Indiana nurses worried about their own health.

Up until Tuesday, the CDC advised health care workers to use masks which filter out 95 percent of airborne particles. But, due to a shortage, it’s now saying nurses can use simple surgical masks. The American Nurses Association says the decision was made with more consideration for supply chain than safety. 

Emily Sego is the president of the Indiana State Nurses Association. She says Indiana’s healthcare workers  continue to treat patients despite those concerns. 

“Despite any fear, panic [or] risk that they may incur while working, they’ve been signing up for extra shifts and are doing whatever they can to make sure that our community is served,” she says. 

She says nurses are also concerned about a lack of affordable childcare while they work as some Indiana schools switch to online learning during the coronavirus outbreak. 

Contact Justin at jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.

This is a rapidly evolving story, and we are working hard to bring you the most up-to-date information. However, we recommend checking the websites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Indiana State Department of Health for the most recent numbers of COVID-19 cases.