BRADENTON – Two Blake Medical Center nurses were reinstated today after being suspended for staging a peaceful protest last week over the hospital’s state of preparedness during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
During the protest, the nurses also expressed their concerns and fears about the lack of protective equipment being provided to the hospital’s nursing staff.
Two of three nurses who participated in the protest, Victoria Holland and Kim Brooks, were suspended. But today, Holland and Brooks were allowed to return to duty after going public with their concerns.
Speaking by phone while on a break this afternoon, Holland said, “I went back to work with no punishment. Today was our first day back.”
Holland said Brooks is now allowed to wear her own N95 mask while working, which is why Brooks was suspended.
“Kim has been wearing her own N95 all day,” Holland said.
Holland said she herself had not yet been provided with an N95 mask, but she didn’t currently have a patient that warranted her wearing one.
During Thursday’s protest, Holland expressed concerns about the hospital’s lack of transparency with the nursing staff regarding positive and potentially positive COVID-19 patients being treated at the hospital.
Holland said her chief nursing officer told her Monday morning that Blake Medical Center is now treating two patients who tested positive for COVID-19.
“I was told there are two positives and four rule-outs,” Holland said.
Holland said the rule-out designation is applied to a patient during the preliminary evaluation period while awaiting a positive or negative test result.
Holland was asked if she thought last week’s protest was a success.
“I’m sure we still have some work to do but we were pretty successful getting our points across. I feel there’s a lot more transparency and more understanding between the administration and the nursing staff,” Holland said.
She also said she felt safer working at the hospital on Monday than she did before she was suspended.
Nurses express concerns
Blake Medical Center is owned by the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). Located in Bradenton, Blake Medical Center is the closest hospital to Anna Maria Island.
Last week’s protest outside of Blake Medical Center coincided with similar protests that occurred at 15 HCA-owned hospitals nationwide last Wednesday and Thursday.
Coinciding with the shift change at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, Holland, Brooks and nurse Candice Cordero staged their protest between the hospital parking garage on the south side of 21st Avenue West and the hospital on the north side of the street.
As their incoming co-workers made their way from the garage to the hospital, the trio handed out single-page printouts that contained information provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding the steps a hospital or medical facility should provide its employees to help protect them from coronavirus infection.
They also held signs that contained the National Nurses United (NNU) COVID-19 Checklist. The NNU is the nurse’s labor union.
Holland said she’s been a nurse at Blake Medical Center for the past two years. She also serves as a union representative.
“The nurses aren’t having any type of transparency when they have a COVID patient or a possible rule-out patient. We have no idea who’s negative and who’s positive. They don’t tell us anything. They tell us that would be a HIPAA violation (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act),” Holland said when interviewed by The Sun during the protest.
“They’ve also got all our PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) on lockdown and we have to get permission to get masks and other things to take care of our patients. If we’re not safe, our patients aren’t safe and our community’s not safe,” Holland said.
“I’ve been suspended since Sunday for fighting for PPEs in front of patients. My assistant chief nursing officer and my certified nursing officer told me I was causing a disturbance on the floor because I was trying to get PPE for my co-workers to take care of their patients,” Holland said.
“This is a $50 billion dollar for-profit organization who’s had experience with the H1NI virus and should always be prepared for anything like this. Having all our equipment on lockdown makes it hard to get the appropriate equipment to take care of patients and that is totally inappropriate. They provide us with these little paper masks to wear that are totally permeable and don’t protect you from anything,” Holland said.
Holland was asked if nurses were being provided with protective face shields.
“That’s one of the reasons I’m on suspension because I was fighting for a face shield for one of my co-workers whose patient was on droplet precautions. When a nurse had to care for a patient who was on droplet precautions and receiving aerosolized treatments, I felt the nurse needed a N95 mask and a face shield. She was given a surgical mask and I ended up giving her a pair of goggles – and that’s what she worked with throughout the night,” Holland said.
“We feel unsafe and we’re scared,” Holland said.
Holland was asked what she hoped the protest accomplished.
“For HCA to buckle down and keep us safe so we can contain this virus so it’s not out in the community; so we’re not spreading it amongst the patents, and so we’re not spreading it amongst our co-workers,” she said.
N95 masks
Brooks has been at Blake Medical Center for the past 14 years.
“I was working on Monday and I was using my own N95 mask that I brought from home. I was told I was not allowed to wear that. And if I wanted to continue to wear it, I would have to go home. I’ve been on suspension and under investigation since and I’ve not heard anything from the hospital,” she said during Thursday’s protest.
Brooks said she was not told why she couldn’t wear her own N95 mask.
“I don’t know. I asked them,” she said.
“I wanted to make sure I could protect myself and my family and I felt there was a need to wear an N95. We don’t know who’s negative and who’s positive and I wanted to do that for my safety. I’ve been a nurse for over 25 years and I’ve never been treated this way before. I’m disappointed. They’ve known the need to arrange for the proper supplies and the proper amount of supplies since January and we feel that has fallen by the wayside,” Brooks said.
“Every nurse and staff member going into that hospital should have a N95 to protect themselves. We don’t want to wait until something happens and then end up with nursing staff becoming positive. We don’t want to bring this home to our families,” Brooks said.
“I’m also disappointed with the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for rolling back their guidelines. To say that this is not an airborne virus, to say this is a droplet transmitted virus because there are not enough supplies and equipment is shameful. Research has shown that this virus stays airborne for three hours, so a N95 is the safest mask to use,” Brooks said.
Candice Cordero has been a nurse at Blake Medical Center for 19 years. Unlike Holland and Brooks, she was not suspended.
“I’m out here because I want to make sure the nurses have the protection they need so we can keep our community safe and help stop the spread once it gets to our area. We don’t have that many cases right now, but it’s coming. If the nurses start getting sick, who’s going to care for the patients?” Cordero said.
Blake response
On Friday, April 3, The Sun contacted Blake Medical Center spokesperson Lisa Kirkland via email and sought a response from the hospital regarding the concerns expressed during Thursday’s protest.
Kirkland responded later that day via email.
“HCA Healthcare West Florida is doing everything it can to equip our patient care teams to provide safe, effective care to the people we serve, unwavering in our dedication despite the unique challenges presented by COVID-19. The National Nurses Union is trying to use this crisis to advance its own interest—organizing more members,” Kirkland wrote.
“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our goal has been to protect our frontline clinicians and caregivers, so they are able to continue to care for our patients and community. The pandemic has strained the worldwide supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks, face shields, and gowns – a challenge that is not unique to us or any other hospital or health system in the United States,” Kirkland wrote.
“While we are doing everything in our power to secure additional supplies, and we are following CDC protocols for using and conserving PPE, the worldwide shortage is a reality that we are addressing with realistic, workable solutions.
“The steps we have taken include:
- Enacting universal masking for all of our employees;
- Appointing a PPE Steward to oversee priority deployment of PPE;
- Creating strategically located PPE distribution centers across our campus to quickly deliver equipment,” Kirkland wrote.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is unique, and our colleagues’ concerns are real. In this unparalleled crisis, everyone should stand together to support our nurses, and not spread misinformation and fear to advance other agendas,” Kirkland wrote.
On Monday afternoon, Kirkland was contacted via email and asked if the hospital administration wanted to comment on the suspended nurses returning to duty.
“No thank you,” she wrote in her response.
