So there’s no misunderstanding, a thread.
There are STILL massive shortages of PPE in Florida. Allow me tell you how things are at one hospital where I see Hospice consults and my sister works as an RN.
1/10 #WeNeedPPE #COVID19 #NurseTwitter #MedTwitter #Floridacoronavirus

She works on a “non- #COVID19” stepdown unit. Sounds great, right? It does until you hear about all the patients that she suspects may have it but aren’t being tested. But wait, it gets worse...
2/10

She gets the ones discharged from the COVID19 + unit if their tests come back negative. They have pneumonia, fever, cough, have been admitted under the assumption they’re positive. But the lab clears them and out they go! No longer requiring isolation precautions.
3/10

The nurses on this “non-Covid19” unit are allotted 1 surgical mask per shift. Even when she was caring for a + influenza patient, she was given the one mask for 12 hours to use in all rooms. She had to beg for a second.
4/10

There are no face shields, no goggles. She wears her readers to do patient care just to have a little buffer. No hair covers are available. No shoe covers. But what about gowns, you say? Surely there are plenty?
5/10

That’d be a hard no. RNs on her unit only receive 1 gown per shift IF their patient has C-diff or influenza. 1 for the whole 12 hours to use for all patients. No gown if you’re caring for the patients transferred from the COVID19 unit, because they’re “negative.”
6/10

But what if they have MRSA? No gown. VRE? No gown. E. coli? No gown. Neutropenic? NO GOWN. What a terrifying time to be a patient if you know enough to realize the added danger.
7/10

Ok, well, they can at least have good hand hygiene, right? Not so much. A good third of the hand sanitizer dispensers were out last night. Call central supply? “Sorry, all out.” So, walk three rooms away to get some foam or go to the sink, right?
8/10

Ah, there’s still soap! Perfect. But wait.
There. Are. No. Paper. Towels.
No problem, just wipe them on the scrubs you’re wearing in every room with no gown.
9/10

Current expected practices are those that would have resulted in nurses getting written up or fired for endangering patients 10 weeks ago. This is crazy. The PPE SUPPLIES ARE NOT MAKING IT TO THE FRONT.
10/10.
#NurseTwitter
#MedTwitter
#WeNeedPPE
#COVID19
#Floridacoronavirus