COVID-19 The Healthcare Workers Bill of Rights
SOLLAY KENYAN FOUNDATION
Modesta Vesonder, CRNP, MS – CEO
Terrance L. Baker, MD, MS, FAAEP, FAAGM, FAAFP – President
Baltimore – Washington
POSTION STATEMENT:
The Sollay Kenyan Foundation in support of Essential Workers, Patients and Society during the COVID-19 global pandemic declare our support for the following:
- Health and safety protections.
- Robust premium compensation.
- Protections for collective bargaining agreements.
- Truly universal paid sick leave and family and medical leave.
- Protections for whistleblowers.
- An end to worker misclassification.
- Health care security.
- Support for child care.
- Treat workers as experts.
- Hold corporations accountable for meeting their responsibilities.
- The COVID-19 Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2020 – This bill requires the Department of Labor to promulgate both an emergency temporary occupational safety or health standard and a permanent standard to protect certain employees from occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (also known as novel coronavirus 2019 or COVID-19). These standards apply to health care sector employees and other employees identified as having an elevated risk for exposure.
- Nurses who promote and restore health, prevent illness, and protect the people entrusted to their care. Despite the unprecedented pandemic workload, nurses alleviate the suffering experienced by individuals, families, groups, and communities. In so doing, nurses provide services that maintain respect for human dignity and embrace the uniqueness of each patient and the nature of his or her health problems, without restriction with regard to social or economic status. To maximize the contributions that nurses make to society, it is necessary to protect the safety, security, dignity and autonomy of nurses and all in the healthcare workforce as expressed in the 12 main priorities of the International Counsel of Nurses’ COVID-19 Call to Action:
- Urgently prioritize ready access to sufficient quantity of high-quality and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for nurses and other healthcare workers.
- Ensure all nurses have appropriate evidence-based infection prevention and control training and the latest COVID-19-specific guidance and training.
- Protect the health and wellbeing of nurses and other healthcare workers.
- Rapidly implement/scale-up comprehensive surveillance systems to track and investigate healthcare worker infection.
- Ensure the financial protection and compensation of nurses.
- Provide a safe and effective Registration and Regulatory response when rapidly expanding the nursing workforce.
- Ensure a safe and effective deployment of nursing staff to areas of high demand and high complexity as the need arises.
- Encourage, develop and support new models of care and innovation.
- Demonstrate public support and recognize the value of nurses to society.
- Capitalize on nursing leadership.
- Develop and implement a comprehensive, coordinated COVID-19 public health strategy with active engagement of nurses.
- Learn from the COVID-19 pandemic to be prepared for the future.
- The protection of 911 Operators, Dispatchers, First Responders, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s), Paramedics, Firefighters, and Law Enforcement with legislation, regulation, policy and planning that must include:
- Tracking of Exposure and Contacts
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Dispatch Protocols to Identify Potential COVID-19 Exposures
- Response Protocols to Minimize COVID-19 Patient Contact, especially in poorly ventilated areas including responder vehicles.
- Training
- Exposure Protocols including Contact Tracing, Self-Isolation and Return to Duty Guidelines
- Leave Time, Workers’ Compensation Coverage and Collective Bargaining
- Communications
- Internal Communications
- External Communications
- Self-Screening
- State and Federal Resources
- The Planning, Preparation and Response efforts of Emergency Management Professionals nationwide and worldwide. Both in response to – and at times despite -government priorities, Emergency Managers have formulated pandemic response plans, provided education, initiated exercises and established supply chains in anticipation of pandemic since 2002. Emergency Managers did not wait until a pandemic hit, learning from viral pandemics and epidemics in the past to help plan for the future. Events and incidents have precipitated change over the decades. Emergency management has a long and impressive history of major accomplishments through successes and failures witnessed by Emergency Managers the world over.
As physicians and specialists of Sollay Kenyan Foundation, we declare the following:
- We support, affirm and endorse the statements of our colleagues and team mates in the fight against COVID-19 as expressed in this document.
- We stand willing, ready and able to personally interview, evaluate, examine and treat every patient who presents for our professional care.
- We support and defend the professional and personal safety and security of every healthcare worker at every level of the healthcare system and pledge to act to ensure that safety and security regardless of risk or repercussions.
- We support and defend the healthcare security and personal safety of every patient and pledge to act, to ensure that safety and security regardless of risk or repercussions.
- We support and defend the healthcare security and personal safety of every person who interacts with the healthcare system in any way and pledge to act, to ensure that safety and security regardless of risk or repercussions.
- We support and defend the professional and personal safety and security of every essential worker at every level of the economy and of the National Response Framework and pledge to act to ensure that safety and security regardless of risk or repercussions.
Unanimously resolved by our boards,
Modesta Vesonder, CRNP, MS – CEO
Terrance L. Baker, MD, MS, FAAEP, FAAGM, FAAFP
Co-Founder Sollay Kenyan Foundation
