
Ask HN: How can I help my local community during the Coronavirus pandemic? - bentona
I&#x27;m in the US, only a few cases in my city.<p>I&#x27;ve seen the efforts to build open-source ventilators, but I&#x27;m wondering if there&#x27;s something I can do now.<p>I imagine there are systems &amp; processes that will break down, has anyone observed somewhere analytical&#x2F;technical effort might make an impact in their local community?<p>Do any of the other standard volunteering channels make sense right now (food bank, etc.)?
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MyHypatia
1) The most effective thing you can do is not get sick, and not get others
sick by social distancing.

2) The next most helpful thing you can do is support hospital workers. If you
have friends who are nurses, doctors, etc. Ask if there is something you can
do to make their lives easier. Are there errands you can do for them? Do they
have toilet paper and other essentials at home? Is there a local nurse
association that you can call and offer your time, energy, money, and specific
skill set to?

3) Long term, the most effective thing you can do is to support hospital
workers. There is an on-going nursing shortage. Nurses are being asked to take
care of too many patients at once. It leads to worse care and burnout among
hospital staff. We have a culture where bumperstickers that say, "support our
troops", "support our fight fighters", and "support our police officers" is
relatively common. We don't do that for our nurses. When they bargain for
higher pay, reduced patient loads, more nurse training they don't have a
bandwagon of people and politicians who reflexively say, "support our nurses"
and provide money and resource to them. Their concerns are met with
indifference by the wider society and our failure to support them and respect
their profession harms us all.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/well/live/the-nursing-
sho...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/well/live/the-nursing-shortage-is-
threatening-our-care.html)

