‘We went from heroes to zeroes’: US nurses strike over work conditions
In April of last year, many people in America came out and cheered for the healthcare workers fighting to save lives during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, but now, nurses across the US are holding strikes due to staff shortages and inadequate equipment amid the pandemic.
“Most of us felt like we went from heroes to zeroes quickly,” says Dominique Muldoon, a nurse for more than 20 years at Saint Vincent’s hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. Muldoon, co-chair of the local bargaining unit has also said nurses are going home crying in their cars, working through breaks and staying up late just to get the work done as demand for patient care has increased.
“You’ll end up staying late or working through your break trying to fit the workload all in, but ultimately become so frustrated, because eventually you keep trying to overcompensate and cannot keep up with it." Muldoon has said.
Source: The Guardian, 30 July 2021