Health and Safety
Covid-19
Nurses and other health care workers are on the front lines of the pandemic; our and our patient's protection is of the utmost importance. View our resources on Covid-19 and protecting nurses and other health care workers and their patients.
Safe RN-to-Patient Staffing Ratios
NNU’s proposal for minimum, mandated, nurse-to-patient staffing ratios sets a minimum number of nurses to safely care for a given number of patients, with adjustments to increase nurse staffing based on patient acuity. Learn more about our campaign.
Workplace Violence Prevention
Violence against nurses and other health care workers in hospitals and other health care facilities is a growing epidemic across the United States. Learn more about NNU's national campaign to prevent workplace violence.
Infectious Disease
Covid-19 and Ebola are high-profile examples of the infectious diseases to which RNs can be exposed. NNU advocates for nurses to have the resources they need, including education, training, and optimal personal protective equipment. Our successes include winning a historic OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard to protect health care workers from Covid-19, landmark mandatory Ebola guidelines in California, and collective bargaining agreements with strong infectious disease protections.
Patient Handling
Sprains, strains, and tears, make up 52% of all injuries that result in days away from work for RNs. Unsafe patient handling causes the bulk of these injuries, some of which have ended nurses’ careers. The solution? A safe patient handling program that includes appropriate equipment, education, and training. NNU regularly sponsors state and federal legislation, participates in the rulemaking process, and negotiates strong contracts to ensure that RNs are protected.
Latest resources
Monkeypox: What nurses need to know
The monkeypox virus is now spreading rapidly in many countries that have not historically had cases. Learn about the symptoms, how it is transmitted, and what protections nurses and other health care workers need to care for a patient with a confirmed case.
Moral Injury and PTSD in the Nursing Profession
This CE class will describe how the Covid-19 pandemic has amplified the stress inherent in the registered nurse’s role within the current health care system. It will explore the critical stressors facing the profession and offer solutions to mitigate those stressors.
Post-Exposure Isolation Period for Omicron SARS-CoV-2 Variant
This scientific brief outlines the incubation period and what nurses and other health care workers should do when exposed to Covid-19.
OSHA Covid-19 Emergency Temporary Standard
Learn what is now required under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Covid-19 Emergency Temporary Standard.
Covid Testing and Screening in Health Care Settings
This brief goes over a science-driven approach to protecting nurses and other health care workers, our patients, and public health.
Nurse Advocacy Network
The NNU Nurse Advocacy Network is a community of activists who are ready to mobilize to ensure that nurses and other front line health care workers have the protections and safety standards they need to care for patients.
Research and Reports
Protecting Our Front Line: Ending the Shortage of Good Nursing Jobs and the Industry-created Unsafe Staffing Crisis
In this report, National Nurses United describes how the hospital industry has driven registered nurses from the profession.
Workplace Violence and Covid-19 in Health Care: How the Hospital Industry Created an Occupational Syndemic
This report details stark evidence of how the dual failures of health care employers to protect nurses and patients from Covid-19 and workplace violence synergistically interact to amplify the harms caused by each individually.
Deadly Shame: Redressing the Devaluation of Registered Nurse Labor Through Pandemic Equity
This white paper provides context and history for why moral distress and moral injury are happening to the most trusted profession in the United States.
Press releases
