Health and Safety
National Nurses United Covid-19 timeline
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, NNU has led the way in advocating for and winning protections for nurses and other health care workers across the country. Learn more by following our full Covid-19 advocacy timeline.
Take NNU's Workplace Violence Survey
We want to hear your story. Your voice has a critical and powerful impact on our collective work. Take the workplace violence survey and share your experiences.
As the Covid public health emergency declaration comes to an end, here’s what nurses want you to know
On May 11 the Covid public health emergency declaration expired. With this emergency era concluding, have hospital executives learned lessons that will help them better protect patients in a future emergency? Ask any nurse, and you will get a resounding, “No.”
Covid-19 Resources
Nurses and other health care workers are on the front lines of the pandemic; their protection is of the utmost importance. View our resources on Covid-19 and protecting nurses and other health care workers and their patients.
RN-to-Patient Staffing Ratios
Registered nurses across the United States understand the need to set a minimum number of nurses to safely care for a given number of patients, with adjustments to increase nurse staffing based on patient acuity.
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
What Nurses Need to Know »» Preventing the Long Covid Health Crisis
A large proportion of people who get Covid-19 experience long-term symptoms and health impacts, known as “long Covid.” Hospitals and other health care employers have a duty to ensure a safe environment for staff and patients. Read our flyer to learn about what measures are necessary to prevent spread of Covid-19 within health care facilities and to protect staff and patients from long Covid.
Ten Things That Nurses Need To Know About Long Covid
Following initial Covid-19 infection, a significant proportion of people continue to experience new, recurring, or ongoing symptoms and health problems that persist from several weeks or months to years. It is a multifaceted syndrome that can affect nearly every organ system and can disrupt people’s ability to work or participate in their daily lives. Learn more by reading our flyer.
N95 respirators >> NIOSH approvals and background info
Learn more about health care vs industrial N95s (updated April 2023)
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.
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
