Gulick and Cline told CNN the hospital would not give them N95 masks when they asked for them.
They said they only were given surgical masks while doctors, technicians and clinicians that were involved with the treatment of coronavirus patients were given N95 masks.
The nurses say they doubted the hospital's claim it was low on N95 masks because they saw so many colleagues wearing the masks. The nurses said all the coronavirus unit nurses were given surgical masks.
Aidem described that characterization as incorrect, saying, "N95s are required when clinicians perform aerosolizing procedures," or any procedures that could cause moisture from the patient to enter the air.
But the nurses say other employees not treating Covid-19 patients, like labor and delivery nurses, were given N95 masks.
CNN spoke with Lizabeth Baker Wade, a labor and delivery nurse at PSJHC and union labor representative at the hospital, who confirmed she had access to N95 respirators "whenever we have asked for them."
Baker Wade took the photo of the nurses protesting on April 9.
"N95s are always available on all units to be used for emergencies and aerosolizing procedures," Aidem said, when asked to explain why some hospital units like labor and delivery nurses were given N95 masks. "All of our clinicians are provided the proper equipment based on patient acuity, and in accordance with CDC recommendations."
Although the nursing staff had been upset for weeks over the lack of N95 masks, Gulick and Cline say two factors pushed the staff over the edge.
On April 6, PSJHC Covid unit nurse Angela Gatdula tested positive for the virus. She told CNN in the weeks prior to her getting coronavirus, she had been treating coronavirus patients while wearing a surgical mask.
AIdem says whenever a hospital employee contracts a contagious illness, the hospital investigates in accordance with state laws. She did not know whether that investigation has begun or had determined how Gatdula contracted coronavirus.
The next morning, news spread around the hospital that Gatdula had tested positive. Cline and Gulick told CNN they spoke with some doctors at the hospital who were surprised the nurses still didn't have the masks.
Nurses remain suspended even after policy change
Gulick says that he and other protesting nurses were then called in, one by one, to a meeting room with hospital administrators.
In that room, administrators read a pre-written script, saying their refusal to treat the patients constituted abandonment and negligence, Gulick said. If they refused, Gulick and Cline said, the hospital threatened to report the nurses to the California Board of Registered Nursing.
Aidem refused to comment on that, citing PSJHC policy to not comment on personnel issues to protect their employees' privacy
"We all said to them, 'No, we are not refusing the assignment, but we are refusing to take care of these patients without being offered the minimal protection of the N95 mask,'" Gulick says. "And they said, 'We cannot provide that to you.'"
After asking the nurses three times to treat the patients, hospital administrators told Gulick he was suspended and to leave the building, Gulick said.
= new reply since forum marked as read
