Nurses march on capital demanding reforms to protect themselves and patients

Nurses and other health care workers marched on the nation's capital demanding higher wages and safer working conditions.

Thousands of nurses from around the country marched to the White House and past the U.S. Capitol Thursday demanding reforms to the health care industry they claim has been putting their lives in danger and prioritizing profits over the care of patients.

They called for three major changes: fair wages, safe-staffing ratios, and protection against workplace violence -- issues nurses say have only been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the nation marked 1 million deaths from Covid, the nurses gathering in front of the White House warned of what they said was the dangerous nurse-to-patient staffing ratio putting both patients and nurses in danger.

While the ratio of nurses to patients depends on the type of care, a nurse most commonly cares for three patients at one time. Some nurses at Thursday's protest reported caring for eight to 10 patients simultaneously. Cindy Reuss said she left her job after 17 year due to unsafe staffing ratios.