Nurses dressed in scrubs being abused in public over COVID-19

Nurses fighting against COVID-19 have been ordered not to wear their uniforms in public after a spate of attacks – including being spat on and verbally abused. A pregnant midwife was yelled at by a McDonald’s customer, accused of “spreading the virus” as she grabbed a coffee.

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Nurses are being spat on and abused by the public, forcing many hospitals to order staff to hide their profession and only wear uniforms at work.

In a disturbing trend that has also occurred overseas, ill-informed people are taking out their fears of coronavirus on health workers, wrongly claiming they are spreading the virus.

Incidents reported to the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association include nurses being spat on, yelled at and verbally abused while commuting, grocery shopping or buying petrol.

Association General Secretary Brett Holmes said the abuse had to stop.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association has been inundated with reports from nurses being spat on, yelled at and verbally abused.

He urged the community to respect nurses, who not only were putting their lives on the line to protect the public but were also experts in the area of infection control.

“I am horrified many nurses and midwives are still being verbally abused, spat on and assaulted for wearing their scrubs or health uniform outside of work. This has to stop,” he said.

“There’s a perception nurses could be spreading COVID-19 if they are wearing their uniform. They are not willingly out there spreading COVID-19, they are desperately trying to get ahead of it.

“To avoid abuse or confrontations, many nurses are now wearing regular clothes to and from work. I urge the community to respect all nurses and midwives. These highly skilled professionals are working hard to keep us safe.”

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The union has urged anyone who witnesses nurses or midwives being assaulted or abused to report it to police.

Mr Holmes said police were “ready, willing and able” to prosecute those who abused frontline workers.”

In Penrith, a pregnant midwife was loudly accused by a McDonald’s customer of “spreading the virus” as she showed her ID at the drive-through in order to obtain a free coffee before her shift.

The incident was reported to police by staff.

At Blacktown Hospital, nurses have reported incidents of being harassed by the public while getting coffee and also travelling on public transport to work.

Westmead Hospital nurses have also reported being harassed outside of work while in scrubs.

There have also been reports of racial slurs, with one nurse told staff at a cafe did not want to serve her because “she couldn’t read English” and “because of COVID-19”.

Another nurse wearing her scrubs while shopping was also abused. Ironically she does not work anywhere near the COVID-19 area of the hospital.

The unions also has reports of nurses being abused by attendants when entering petrol stations in their scrubs.

Nurses are now being instructed not to wear their hospital scrubs while out in public.

Other nurses are being abused by members of the public waiting to be tested for the virus.

Nurses at Sydney Hospital have told the union that they have been “sworn at, spat on and abused” by “increasingly anxious patients” waiting for treatment or COVID-19 screening.

A Royal North Shore Hospital intensive care unit nurse reported being assaulted on a public transport after boarding a train in her scrubs.

The nurse believed the commuters feared her scrubs were carrying COVID-19.

Another nurse was also abused at Coles when she stopped on way home to get dinner.

Over in Campbelltown Hospital, nurses have reported community members deliberately coughing in the direction of nurses wearing uniforms or scrubs.

The incidents are not restricted to Sydney, with Queanbeyan District Hospital instructing staff not to wear uniforms to work after a nurse was verbally abused at the local Woolworths.

Among the statements given to the union include one from a nurse who was asked to wait outside a chemist shop “because I was making customers anxious as I was wearing scrubs”.

The local health districts where nurses have been requested not to wear scrubs to and from work include Northern NSW, Mid North Coast, parts of Hunter New England, Central Coast, Northern Sydney, Nepean Blue Mountains, Illawarra Shoalhaven, Southern NSW and Murrumbidgee.

Originally published as Nurses dressed in scrubs being abused in public over COVID-19