Nurses Challenge Lack of Representation on COVID-19 Task Force

The absence of nursing representation on the White House Coronavirus Task Force and most state and local response teams underscores nurses’ frequent exclusion from decision-making tables, write two UCLA nurses in a recent op-ed published by The Hill. Nurses’ “in-depth knowledge of the whole-person needs of patients would help policymakers consider all the implications of the pandemic and where resources are needed,” they write. In addition to elaborating on what nurses as a group can bring to the table, the authors share the experience of one critical care nurse whose advocacy and initiative led to changes that allowed nurses in his unit to improve care by spending more time in patients’ rooms. (The Hill article, 8/22/20)