PHOTOS: Nurses on the front line in the fight against COVID-19

Nurse anesthetist Nilu Patel quietly stands with fellow nurses at UC Irvine Medical Center for a candlelight vigil at their shift change to describe conditions and the need for more N95 respirators and protective gear required to safely treat coronavirus patients.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Registered nurses at UC Irvine Medical Center pose for campy selfies following a candlelight vigil at their shift change.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Nurse Maria Louviaux quietly stands with fellow nurses at UC Irvine Medical Center for an hourlong candlelight vigil to highlight conditions and the need for more N95 respirators and protective gear required to safely treat coronavirus patients.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Registered nurse Patty Pinedo takes the temperature of resident Sally Kimani as she enters a West L.A. hotel that has been turned into housing for the homeless during the coronavirus pandemic.   (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

A nurse gets help putting on her personal protective equipment before heading into a negative pressure room to administer care for a COVID-19 patient at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center in Chula Vista, Calif.  (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Orange County Fire Authority firefighters and other first responders from Laguna Beach, Santa Ana and Irvine thank healthcare workers for their efforts to combat COVID-19 at Mission Hospital  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Red Cross nurse Edith Fernandez, right, tends to blood donor, Cheri Adams as USC Athletics and the Red Cross host a blood drive to help maintain a stable blood supply during the coronavirus pandemic at USC’s Galen Center.  (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Marsha Santini, a nurse at UCLA Medical Center, and fellow nurses and supporters gather to protest the lack of personal protective equipment.  (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Nurse practitioner Christine Alberto puts on protective gear before she and other health professionals prepare to go outside of the COVID Cabana, the name for the COVID-19 testing tent, to test a patient while they sit in their car parked next to the tent at Scripps Clinic Torrey Pines in San Diego.  (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Medical personnel from St. Jude Medical Center stand clustered on the sidewalk as Fullerton and Brea Firefighters, EMS and Police join together in a show of support for healthcare workers outside of the St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton.  (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Healthcare workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic at Glendale Adventist Hospital in Glendale gather outside the facility for a tribute to their work by Glendale police and fire personnel.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

UC Irvine Medical Center health care workers bang on the windows in a return of gratitude as they watch about 25 Orange County first responders vehicles participate in a drive-by parade of gratitude as they battle COVID-19 at the hospital.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Jennifer Adams, a registered nurse, joins fellow healthcare workers outside UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center to call for further action from the federal government’s in reaction to the Covid 19 outbreak.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)