Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1273352
39 NURSING SPOTLIGHT National initiative offers nurses mental health tools to cope with pandemic By Anuja Vaidya T he American Nurses Association's philanthropic arm has launched a national well-being initiative designed specifically for nurses to help them cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Nurses Foundation's initiative provides nurses with digital mental health and wellness-related resources and tools to support their emotional well-being while serving on the front lines of the pandemic. The resources include a mobile app focused on wellness content, such as mindfulness meditation and breathing exercises, as well as peer-to-peer calls organized on Zoom, where nurses can share thoughts and ask questions. There is also a self-assessment tool that can help nurses identify mental health symptoms. The foundation partnered with several other professional nursing organizations to create the resources, including the Emergency Nurs- es Association, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and American Psychiatric Nurses Association. n 84% of nurses haven't been tested for COVID-19: 6 survey findings By Mackenzie Bean O nly a small portion of nurses nationwide had been tested for COVID-19 as of early May, according to a survey from National Nurses United. The union polled nearly 23,000 unionized and nonunionized nurses in all 50 states and four U.S. territories between April 15 and May 10. Six survey findings: 1. About 84 percent of respondents had not been tested for COVID-19. 2. Of those who underwent testing, more than 500 reported positive test results. 3. A majority (87 percent) said they've reused a disposable respirator or mask while treating COVID-19 patients. 4. Seventy-two percent of nurses reported having exposed skin or clothing when caring for COVID-19 patients, which increases their infection risk. 5. About 27 percent of respondents said they've cared for COVID-19 patients without wearing appropriate personal protective equipment and worked again within two weeks of that exposure. 6. One-third of nurses said their employer requires them to use sick leave, vacation days or paid time off if they contract COVID-19 or need to self-quarantine. n Nurses say changing guidelines, unsafe conditions are pushing them to quit By Gabrielle Masson S ome front-line nurses have decided to quit their jobs, citing inadequate protection against the novel coronavirus and fear for their safety, along with that of their families, according to NBC News. Nearly 10,000 healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a CDC survey conducted Feb. 12 to April 9. Actual numbers are estimated to be much higher due to slow data collection and a high number of asymptomatic cases. At least 79 nurses have died from COVID-19, the American Nurses Associa- tion said May 7. Many nurses said new CDC protocols haven't priori- tized their safety and have made them feel expendable. As N95 mask supply dwindled, commercial grade masks, surgical masks and, in some cases, homemade masks were all recommended by the CDC, which did not return a request for comment from NBC News. e new guidelines are not backed up by research showing such masks offer protection from the virus. Kelly Stanton, RN, a former nurse at a Washington, D.C.-area hospital with 28 years of experience, said the hospital she worked at gave nurses limited access to an already low stockpile of protective equipment and asked nurses to reuse single-use masks. Each time a safety regulation changed, Ms. Stanton said she began to feel more like "a sheep sent to slaughter." By late March, she resigned. "ings they were telling us we had to now do, you would've been fired if we did that three weeks before," Ms. Stanton told NBC News. "How is this suddenly OK?" A survey of more than 1,200 nurses from over 400 hos- pitals found that 61 percent of respondents said they are planning to quit either their jobs or the profession altogether, according to results published April 9 by Holliblu, an online community for nurses. "We didn't sign up to be sacrificial lambs. We didn't sign up to fight a deadly disease without adequate resources," Rebecca, a nurse in Albuquerque, N.M., told NBC News. e consequential psychological effect on nurses will be profound and long-lasting, according to Liz Stokes, RN, director of the ANA Center for Ethics and Human Rights. "Nurses were already burned out before, and this pandemic might push many of them completely out." n