A new hotline from the Iowa Nurses Association is helping provide support for nurses across the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nurse to Nurse is a confidential, no-charge hotline where nurses can share their stresses and concerns.

The calls are answered by nurses who volunteer for the hotline.

Lisa Caffery, president of the Iowa Nurses Association said the COVID-19 pandemic is taking its toll on nurses in the state.

“People are still having heart attacks,” Caffery said. “People are still needing to see their doctors, so the nurses are having to move in and out of that crisis mode back into their regular care pattern, and we’re still seeing everything across the state.”

Caffery said Iowans can help nurses by following COVID-19 guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even as COVID-19 restrictions begin to loosen in the state.

Nurses needing help can call the hotline at 515-650-2295.