Some valley nurses were laid off during COVID-19, but are using their skills in New York

Mayo Clinic, Abrazo and other hospitals are laying off or furloughing staff during the COVID-19 crisis and a nurses make up a lot of that staff.

FOX 10 spoke with two local nurses and agreed not to reveal their identities.

As large healthcare providers lay off healthcare workers by the hundreds, nurses find themselves looking for work in a profession they assumed could weather any storm.

But COVID-19 is another story.

"I’ve never been unemployed and to lose a job when you have a degree like this as a nurse, during the time of a crisis, you would think your medical staff is who you want working," one nurse said.

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Hospital revenues have plummeted. Mayo Clinic announced last week it is losing $3 billion due to the virus.

Another nurse who works at a different hospital says she and other nurses recently left the valley to work under contract in New York City.

Her nursing job at a valley hospital had been scaled back and she hadn’t worked since March.

"It’s just really hard because I personally am the main provider for my family and I’m not working or getting any shifts and it’s hard financially," she explained.

She says she and the other nurses headed to New York is not just for the money, but because their instinct as nurses is to help.

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"When you hear something like this going on, like a pandemic, and how they need nurses and how you want to help people and they're not utilizing us," she said, "Its just hard sitting here when there's such a great need."

She will have to quarantine for two weeks when she returns to the valley, but will be paid for that time as well.

She says the toughest part is being away from her family.