On National Nurses Day, Christina Hale, Democratic candidate for Indiana's Fifth Congressional District, published the following Medium post on growing up as the daughter of a nurse and why she’s fighting for Hoosier health care workers. 

I’m the daughter of a nurse. Growing up, my brothers and I would watch my mom get up so very early and head to work to care for the people in our community who needed it most. Now, as we all witness the extraordinary challenges facing our health care workers during this COVID-19 crisis, of course I think of my mother and her quiet devotion to her patients over the course of decades. She served prisoners, community leaders, teachers, kids, janitors, anybody and everybody with broken bones or pneumonia or worse, simply because it was the right thing to do. And because she was needed.

Now, in the age of a global pandemic, our nurses are being tested unlike ever before. Sadly, we are just not prepared. With limited PPE and other resources, learning on the fly the characteristics of a deadly contagious virus, our frontline health care workers are once again taking care of our community – at extreme personal risk. This is unacceptable.

Over the course of my career, I’ve worked on public health crises here in Indiana and around the world. One thing has held true – if we provide health care workers the resources they need, there is an immediate and direct improvement of the health outcomes for our friends, families, and neighbors. As the medical community continues their tireless fight against COVID-19, their requests have been clear: give us ventilators, masks, and gowns so that we can continue this fight.

This pandemic has shown the critical importance of access to affordable health care. Never has it been more clear that the health of our neighbors can affect us personally, simply by standing next to each other at the grocery store or pharmacy. We are one community, and the health of one affects the health of us all. But for too many people, health care is out of reach, and that leaves everybody vulnerable. No one should have to choose between filling their prescriptions, going to the doctor, or paying rent. I've experienced these difficulties myself and I’m running for Congress in Indiana’s Fifth Congressional District because I’ve spent my career fighting for Hoosier families and I plan to continue doing just that when I’m elected.

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