Courtesy of the National Nurses United website

NEVADA – Hundreds of registered nursed (RN) from Nevada are volunteering their service and time to the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Portia Fiesta is a Filipina nurse at the St. Rose San Martin Hospital. Fiesta is just one of the few nurses calling fellow RN's to volunteer for Haiti relief and ask for donations.

"I volunteered to go to Haiti. No second thoughts about it,” said Fiesta.

Fiesta says that when typhoon Ondoy hit the Philippines, a lot of her fellow RN's donated their time and service as well.
 
She believes that now is the time to give back.

“First time I heard about it I was watching the news with my mom on TFC (The Filipino Channel) actually. Oh my god! I have to go. I started crying. We started crying together. She’s scared because it’s too far but it’s my job. It's a humanitarian thing and I can’t wait to go. I never volunteered before to do anything like this so I’m excited," added Fiesta.
 
For Jimmy Saavedra, there is a great need to mobilize people to help Haiti.

"The least we can do is do the campaign and stuff like that. Put people together para tumulong sa kapwa natin," said Saavedra.
 
The CNA National Nurses United said RN's are the most reliable and skilled professionals to be in the frontlines in times of disaster.
They provide medical care for the survivors, and they say many Filipino nurses play a vital role in this effort.

"Our Filipino community is amazingly important. We have a strong vibrant community here in Las Vegas. Many of our key leaders are from the Filipino community. So the community is vital to whatever we do as a nurses' union, particularly on this operation ve've had many nurses step up," said Renee Ruiz.

In just 4 hours, more than 500 RN's pledged to donate or go to Haiti if needed. Some hospitals in Nevada are allowing some of their staff to take time off to volunteer for Haiti relief. They will be allowed to use their paid leave while on their mission.

“Kawawa naman they need our help at this time, so magtutulungan-tulungan lang. It's better to give than to receive," said Belen Evangelista of the Mountain View Hospital.
 
"We have the knowledge. We got the training. It’s something that is needed when something like this happen,” said Evangelista’s colleague, Marianne Madsen.

Organizers will be deploying their staff to Haiti as soon as security clears.