Over 7,500 Nurses Ready to Set Out for Haiti

Nearly 7,500 registered nurses (RNs) have signed up to volunteer for Haiti disaster relief, believed to be the largest outpouring of RN volunteers in United States history, according to National Nurses United (NNU).

Nurses from other countries are signing up through the NNU program as well, including nurses from Australia, Canada, Uruguay, The Philippines, Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom, and Kenya, among others. The NNU is in contact with the U.S. Defense Department, the Obama administration, and others to get teams of nurses on the ground in the disaster zone as quickly as possible, where they can provide the desperately needed care for Haiti. At present, there are substantial logistic problems for the actual deployment, including the virtual collapse of healthcare infrastructure and facilities in Haiti, severe problems with transport, and many difficulties with a shattered governmental infrastructure on the embattled island.

In addition to RNs already in Haiti, including members of the Haitian American Nurses Association who are working with NNU, RNs are being sent to a command operation center in Miami (FL, USA) to prepare for deployment to Haiti. The first team of nurses to go is expected to include NNU copresident Deborah Burger, Haitian American RNs, and nurses who have worked in previous disaster relief programs. Additionally, the NNU is asking for hospitals to provide paid relief time for nurse volunteers (several systems have already agreed to do so) and is asking pharmaceutical and insurance companies to donate vaccines for the volunteer nurses and other medical supplies to bring to Haiti.

"As reports of dire medical care shortages continue to pour in, we have thousands of registered nurses willing and ready to travel to Haiti,” said NNU executive director Rose Ann DeMoro. "We know that the few remaining medical facilities in Haiti and those who are now on the ground are completely overwhelmed. In this enormous human tragedy, it is vital to get the nurses deployed rapidly.”

"Registered nurses are particularly skilled professionals who are needed to assess and treat patients and their families and to assess their environment. It is not possible to have a comprehensive care and recovery process without RNs. We need to get nurses there quickly,” said NNU copresident Karen Higgins, RN.

NNU is the largest union and professional organization of U.S. nurses, which has also sent hundreds of volunteers on past disaster relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina, the South Asia tsunami, and Southern California wildfires.

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