Donna A. Gaffney and Teri Mills, two seasoned healthcare professionals with extensive experience in nursing and advocacy, have penned this critical OpEd to shed light on the alarming vulnerabilities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic within the U.S. healthcare system. Their unique perspectives provide a powerful lens through which to examine the pandemic’s impact on frontline workers. The authors chose this topic to highlight the stark contrast between the urgent needs of American healthcare providers and the reported diversion of crucial resources by the former U.S. President to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Their goal is to spark a meaningful dialogue about the need for transparent, responsible leadership in healthcare policy and to ensure that the hard-learned lessons of the pandemic lead to concrete improvements in how we support and equip those on the frontlines of future health crises.
Healthcare providers rely on state-of-the-art, up-to-date equipment to perform their jobs as it often plays a crucial role in determining a patient’s plan of care and making life or death decisions.
The first months of 2020 were particularly challenging for nurses who were working with an unknown entity, a deadly coronavirus soon to be known as COVID-19. Thanks to the U.S. scientific community, there would soon be a test to diagnose the presence of the virus.
Imagine working as a nurse in a hospital, thinking the lab was able to perform COVID testing, only to find out the device to do this was not available. With the release of Bob Woodward’s book WAR—perhaps better titled WAR-NING—we learned why. Woodward revealed Vladimir Putin had several point-of-care COVID-19 testing machines at his disposal. A secret gift from the former President who abandoned his duty to protect the American people.
Let’s be clear, these point-of-care machines cost thousands of US dollars each with a $50 test kit per patient. The first-generation Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 testing equipment was approved for emergency use by the FDA on March 27, 2020. In 13 minutes or less, SARS-CoV-2 can be detected from nasal or throat swabs. It was a game-changer.
Even though Woodward mainly focuses on the backstory of the Ukraine-Russia war and Middle East turmoil, we cannot dismiss the fact that nurses and physicians serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic were fighting their own battle on American soil. This was under the leadership of former President Trump, also the Commander in Chief, who chose to betray our entire healthcare workforce, their safety disregarded as vital equipment was handed over to a foreign adversary. Meanwhile, to the American people, he repeated over 38 times: “ It [COVID-19] will disappear.” Misinformation, disinformation and lies. As a result, we all suffered.
During the past four years, the stories and commitment of our nurses have been chronicled in Courageous Well-Being for Nurses, as well as other books and articles. Despite their best efforts, 440,044 healthcare workers were reported to have had the virus, resulting in 1,469 deaths. Just like troops returning from the battlefield who have witnessed injury and death, nurses have also experienced lingering anxiety, PTSD, and moral distress. Even with one-on-one counseling and participation in support groups, 100,000 nurses left their careers during the pandemic, contributing to the nursing shortage.
We have to treat War as a warning.
Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Ashish Jha have warned us that we could face another pandemic. The mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2018, long before the virus reached the U.S. Decisions were already being made that set the stage for the crisis. Trump terminated the National Security Council (NSC). The NSC was set up to be the “smoke alarm” to get ahead of an emergency like COVID-19. Trump’s actions left healthcare providers destined for failure. Frontline nurses and physicians were left desperately needing personal protective equipment (PPE) that simply wasn’t there. Hospitals did not have a chance to secure ventilators that may have saved patients’ lives. Besides Trump famously telling Americans to drink bleach and take horse medicine, he boasted to the nation, “It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.” However, by the time Trump left office, there were 25 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, over 400,000 of which resulted in death.
One thing is undeniable: if Trump is re-elected, he will dismantle all the progress the Biden-Harris administration has achieved in preparing us for the next healthcare crisis.
We cannot allow a catastrophe like the COVID-19 pandemic to happen again. If there’s ever been a reason to ensure Trump never returns to office, this is it.
Donna A. Gaffney, DNSc, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN, is a psychotherapist and author of Courageous Well-Being for Nurses: Strategies For Renewal. She volunteered for the Emotional PPE project during the pandemic and continues to support school nurses. Donna lives in Los Angeles and is a member of the Core Team for Nurses for America (https://nursesforamerica.net/
Teri Mills, MSN, RN Emeritus, Adult Nurse Practitioner (retired); 2019 Oregon Nurse of the Year; Former President National Nursing Network Organization. Teri lives in Oregon and was the Volunteer Medical Lead, Washington County (OR) COVID Clinics -2021-2022, and is a member of the Core Team for Ohio Nurses for America.
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One reason of MANY why we need to DO SOMETHING (think Michele Obama). Activate this weekend! Sign up for phone banking for Kamala. Quick training, easy to do, script provided, your tel and contact info is not revealed. It’s fun, challenging, sometimes inspiring, sometimes vexing but always important. The goal is 10 million phone calls this weekend. Let’s DO THIS!!!!!
Love your actions Judy, they will make a difference!