Two nurse leaders have been invited to join the CDC's Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, National Nurses United said.
Jane Thomason, NNU's lead industrial hygienist, and Lisa Baum, lead occupational safety and health representative at NNU affiliate New York State Nurses Association, were invited to the committee in early May.
"This is a major win for nurses and other health care workers," NNU President Nancy Hagans, RN, who is also the president of NYSNA, said in a May 22 NNU news release. "Our members have essential insights and expertise when it comes to infection prevention."
The advisory board is currently updating the CDC's Isolation Precautions guidance, which shapes infection control and prevention practices in hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare settings across the nation and around the world, according to the release. The group is traditionally staffed by infection control staff from large hospital systems, but NNU has been pushing for more experts, such as frontline workers and aerosol transmission scientists, to join.