With a strike looming on the horizon, nurses at Meriter Hospital successfully voted over the weekend to approve a new precedent-setting contract to support healthcare workers and improve policies after a grueling year of the COVID-19 crisis.

On today’s show, we hear from Reno Gatton and Louise Nordstrom, two of the Meriter nurses who have been advocating for these improvements.

They describe what it’s been like working on the frontlines of the COVID crisis, including the PPE shortages of the early pandemic, the rise of PTSD among COVID patients and healthcare workers, and why they fought so hard to secure additional protections, including paid sick leave, for healthcare heroes.

Cover image from @TAA_Madison on Twitter