By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
What if working with COVID-19 patients leads to a nurse suffering overt or covert discrimination? You may read this and think it could never happen – but think again. Many people are fearful today of being infected. Nurses and other healthcare workers on the front-line workers are seen as potential carriers of the virus. I have noticed this in grocery stores where shoppers nervously look at anyone wearing scrubs. I did not realize how pervasive this fear could be until a story appeared Saturday on the front page of the Palm Beach Post Woman claims application was rejected by a Condo Board because she is a nurse.
Jennifer Piraino, a critical care nurse, attempted to rent a two-bedroom condo with her boyfriend. The unit condo owner had cleared their application, and the next step was approval by the HOA board. The HOA never processed the request. The owner of the unit said the condo board rejected the application because Jennifer’s job puts her in contact with COVID-19 patients. When the condo board president learned that Jennifer was a nurse – she told the owner – “we can’t have a nurse in the building.” An emergency room nurse who owns a unit in the complex reported that she had been called by the management company to find out if she had been tested.
Part of the issue is current laws around fair housing prohibit discrimination around protected classes. Being a nurse on the front-line of the battle against COVID-19 is not one of them, but ironically having the COVID-19 virus is covered under the disability portion of the law. The Daily Beast reported that multiple nurses described potential landlords backing out of rental agreements, Airbnb hosts denying their requests, and current proprietors turning them out on the street. In an interview, a nurse told the Daily Beast that she had never felt scared to be a nurse until COVID-19. A nurse in New Hampshire received a text from her landlord asking her to vacate just after finishing a 16-hour shift. “I cried in my car when I read that,” she said, “because I’m like, ‘What in the world am I going to do?” Another nurse noted that they are viewed as “Petri dishes for the virus.”
The irony is that it is these nurses who are expected to take care of patients admitted with COVID-19. They have no options. The Daily Beast noted that globally nurses are being harassed and called disease carriers. In Oklahoma City, a nurse was physically attacked on her way to work because the alleged perpetrator believed that due to the nurse’s role in healthcare, they were exposing the community to COVID-19. It has become so problematic in Japan that the Japanese Association for Disaster Medicine had to call on the public to stop bullying healthcare workers. Howard Catton, CEO of the International Council of Nurses, said in a news briefing that governments should have a “zero-tolerance approach” to abuse and attacks on health care workers, calling for public health messages that are fact-based and clear.
At this point, these incidences may be isolated, but perhaps not – we won’t know until we ask the staff about their experiences outside of work. The current stress and anxiety related to the work itself is overwhelming for many nurses. Their time off should be a respite but may not be for some if they feel like they are shunned. This conversation is worth having with your staff to learn more about what is happening in environments outside of work.
Read Rose Sherman’s book – The Nurse Leader Coach: Become the Boss No One Wants to Leave
© emergingrnleader.com 2020
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