A Camden County hospital is changing its policies after firing a nurse who wore an N95 mask that she brought from home.

Dawn Kulach was a nurse at Virtua Voorhees. She says that she was sent home and then eventually fired for wearing the mask and other items that she brought from home.

But the hospital has now changed its policy to allow workers to bring in their own personal protection equipment (PPE). JNESO, the union representing Kulach, is now fighting her termination.

“I think what Dawn is doing on a public level is what a lot of other health care workers and nurses are thinking to themselves. We see a lot of places where they’re not providing enough PPE and there’s other places that they’ve allowed them to bring their masks from home. But without a doubt, I think the support has been overwhelming,” says JNESO District Council 1 Executive Director Douglas Placa.

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Virtua declined to comment on Kulach’s termination. But released the new policy, saying, “On April 7, Virtua’s infection control expert determined that any colleague who wishes to provide and wear additional mask protection when caring for non-COVID-19 patients may do so.”

The policy continues, “For instance, a colleague can wear his or her own N95 mask as long as he or she covers it with the Virtua-issued isolation mask. To preserve a safe working environment, any mask brought from home must be discarded at the end of each shift.