By Max Kutner

Law360 (November 12, 2020, 7:58 PM EST) -- Hospitals are still lacking in personal protective equipment to deal with COVID-19 as the U.S. experiences record new daily cases, according to the results of a survey of 15,000 nurses released Thursday by National Nurses United.

NNU, which says it is the country's largest registered nurses union, said the nurses reported PPE shortages and that their facilities were not properly screening patients for the novel coronavirus or preparing for the coming flu season.

"Hospitals are continuing to fail when it comes to preparation for COVID-19, even as flu season begins," NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo said in a statement Thursday. "They have had nearly a year to get their act together. We should not still be operating under crisis standards of care."

Almost a year since the first COVID-19 case was identified in China, the U.S. nurses reported that they still did not have enough PPE, according to the union.

Only 16.5% of nurses in hospitals surveyed said they had universal PPE in emergency departments.

More than 80% of nurses overall said they had been reusing single-use PPE, and some of the nurses reported not using respirator masks with patients who had not been tested for COVID-19 or whose test results were pending.

Screening patients for COVID-19 was also a concern, according to the survey results. Just 20% of the nurses said patients were screened for respiratory symptoms before the hospitals admitted them, and less than half of hospital nurses said all patients were screened for COVID-19.

When hospitals did screen patients, they did not always have a secure place for them to go.

Just 60% of nurses said their hospitals had a dedicated area for patients with the coronavirus, and 8% said their hospitals had closed down such areas, according to the survey results.

Even as they tested and notified patients of exposure, nurses often were not tested or notified themselves, according to the survey results. Fewer than half of hospital nurses surveyed said they had ever been tested for COVID-19, and just a third of nurses overall said they had been tested.

Short-staffing was a top safety concern for 30% of nurses, a problem that almost half of hospital nurses said had gotten worse. Just 36% of hospital nurses said they could always stay home if they had flu or COVID-19 symptoms.

The survey also looked at the coming flu season, which health care experts have warned could strain resources needed to respond to COVID-19. Only 18% of nurses surveyed said their hospitals were prepared for surge capacity due to flu season, according to the results.

The nurses surveyed also reported mental health impacts, such as trouble sleeping and feelings of stress, anxiety and depression. Some even reported facing more workplace violence since the start of the pandemic. More than 240 registered nurses have died from COVID-19, according to NNU.

The nurses who participated in the survey came from all U.S. states and answered the questions between mid-October and early-November, NNU said. Those surveyed included union members and nonmembers.

In a statement, NNU called on the federal government, and in particular President-elect Joe Biden, to use the Defense Production Act to mass produce PPE, and to have the Occupational Safety and Health Administration publish an emergency temporary standard to protect workers.

Thursday's survey results come as the U.S. reports record-high coronavirus infection numbers. On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 143,408 new daily cases for the previous day, the highest since the start of the pandemic.

NNU has more than 150,000 members, according to its website.

A spokesperson for the American Hospital Association was not immediately available late Thursday to comment on the survey results.

--Editing by Haylee Pearl.

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