Nurses demand more personal protective equipment at Hospitals of Providence

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso nurses took to the sidewalk outside the Hospitals of Providence east campus, demanding more personal protective equipment in the fight against Covid-19.

"PPE is supposed to be used once," said Tanya Borunda, who works in the recovery room on the east campus. "Here, we're using PPE for 12-hour shifts, which increases the probability that we can become contaminated."

A spokeswoman for the Hospitals of Providence told ABC-7 that the hospitals have adequate supplies to safely treat patients and protect staff.

"Our focus remains on caring for our community during the pandemic," wrote the spokeswoman." Every protocol in our Covid response, to include PPE use and conservation, has been built around the safety of our patients and staff and in compliance with CDC guidelines and state orders."

The nurses also asked that El Paso residents wash their hands and practice social distancing as frontline workers are overwhelmed by new patients.

"All us nurses here are wanting optimal PPE to take care of our patients, especially those with Covid right now," said Sara Ramirez, who works in the emergency room. "N95 masks are supposed to be single-use items."

"It's nerve-wracking," Borunda said. "We, like the rest of the community, want our families to be safe. "