⁣FIGS gave me the once in a lifetime opportunity to travel to Washington DC and lobby for the Awesome Humans Bill on Capitol Hill🏛⠀ ⠀ ⠀ This bill has four pillars:⠀ 💵Pay- Equal pay and time off 😷Safety- Safe nurse patient ratios ❤️Mental Health- Resources without repercussions⠀ ✏️Training Programs- Retention efforts and recruiting measures⠀ ⠀ I was one of nine healthcare professionals honored and humbled to have been chosen to represent healthcare workers. I wanted to share a portion of what I said on behalf of bedside nurses everywhere. I really hope I made you all proud: ⠀ ⠀ "I can sit here and throw numbers and statistics at you, but the fact of the matter is that you already know them and nothing has changed.⠀ ⠀ You know how many nurses died during COVID. You lined up their nursing shoes on the White House lawn to honor them, and thereafter no safety efforts were made to avoid future nurse deaths.⠀ ⠀ You know how defeated healthcare workers have been for decades and how COVID was the final straw, so you united the world in song, banging pots and pans as we marched into work....Where is the music now?⠀ ⠀ You know we are facing a massive healthcare exodus in the form of leaving the bedside or suicide, so you call us "healthcare heroes," a word that at first was empowering and uplifting and now feels so dirty, like a slap in the face. A title that only reminds us of all the empty promises."⠀ ⠀ To my fellow lobbying colleagues, you all inspire me beyond words. Your eloquence, passion, and advocacy is going to change the world. Thank you to @wearfigs for championing us while our nation grew silent. You have given us the platform and opportunity to challenge leadership officials and advocate for the change we deserve. Lastly, a huge thank you to @heatherhasson and @trina.spear . From the beginning of FIGS, you have seen us and supported us...well before the pandemic even started. You have changed my life and the lives of so many healthcare workers around the world. You all never stop for us and this bill is just the beginning❤️⠀ ⠀ #wearfigs #awesomehumans #FIGSontheHill #AwesomeHumansBill #FIGSambassador #nurseadvocate