NNU Continues Its work to Put Nurses on the Ground in Haiti
Thousands of registered nurses have volunteered for disaster relief nursing in Haiti since the January 12, 2010 Level 7 earthquake devastated the country, already suffering from the vast ills of poverty and lack of access to medical care. Many nurses have been in Haiti for several days or even weeks. Others are ready to depart for Haiti to join colleagues on the ground or working on the U.S.N.S. Comfort hospital ship, harbored off Port-au-Prince. National Nurses United has been working around the clock, meeting with officials in Haiti, exploring options to send delegations through other countries, and working to maximize the safety of nurses on the ground once they arrive in Haiti.
For more information go to: www.NationalNursesUnited.org. Updates are also available @NationalNurses on twitter or by following: #haitiRN.
For the latest updates, information for nurses interested in volunteering, Creole (“Kreyol”) words and phrases, cultural information on Haiti and more, go to http://www.calnurses.org/rnrn/haiti/#eUpdates
NNU is also asking the public to support this effort with donations to pay travel and supply costs for the volunteers via www.sendanurse.org or support the RNRN/NNU disaster relief effort in Haiti by sending checks c/o California Nurses Foundation, 2000 Franklin St., Oakland, CA 9
“The need for help has never been so acute,” said NNU Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro. “Nurses will be fundamental to the disaster relief process, to provide immediate healing and therapeutic support to the patients and families facing the devastation from this tragic earthquake,” DeMoro said.
NNU, the largest union and professional organization of U.S. nurses, has also sent hundreds of volunteers on past disaster relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina, the South Asia tsunami, and Southern California wildfires.
“Registered nurses are particularly skilled professionals who are needed to assess and treat patients and their families and to assess their environment. It is not possible to have a comprehensive care and recovery process without RNs. We need to get nurses there quickly,” said NNU Co-president Karen Higgins, RN.
Additionally, NNU is asking for hospital to provide paid relief time for nurse volunteers – several systems have already agreed to do so – and asking pharmaceutical and insurance companies to donate vaccines for the volunteer nurses and other medical supplies to bring to Haiti.
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