Nursing and the Ebola Virus

Nurses COVID

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For those of us in unaffected countries, are you concerned about the ebola virus spreading? Would you care for ebola patients? I live in an area with a very high density of African immigrants and come into contact with these individuals regularly. We have a lot of African immigrants who bring back tuberculosis from their home countries and at my unit we end up caring for them. We take care of a lot of rare infectious diseases. I was reading an article and it dawned on me how plausible it would be for me to encounter this virus. And I admit, it's terrifying and I might refuse that assignment. Many healthcare workers in Africa are dying because of caring for the ill.

Specializes in ICU,ER,med-Surg,Geri,Correctional.

darn I was on pg 10 hope it was not me. But sounds like.

Specializes in Rehab, Med/Surg.

2 words: SAFE HARBOR !!

]IAFF Calls for Safety Stand Down for Ebola Preparedness

http://www.sconfire.com/2014/10/16/iaff-calls-safety-stand-ebola-preparedness/

Specializes in ICU,ER,med-Surg,Geri,Correctional.

I am wondering while these nurse are wearing the Extreme(but necessary ) PPE. Seems that charting would be very difficult. Are they able to use a dictation device or something?. I could not imagine wearing that PPE for 4 hrs. I know I would be claustrophobic and would feel very surreal. I would not be on top of my game. Just being honest and no need to worry because I am retired. But still in the corner praying and doing what I can to support our family of Health Care Workers..

Specializes in Med-Surg.
I am wondering while these nurse are wearing the Extreme(but necessary ) PPE. Seems that charting would be very difficult. Are they able to use a dictation device or something?. I could not imagine wearing that PPE for 4 hrs. I know I would be claustrophobic and would feel very surreal. I would not be on top of my game. Just being honest and no need to worry because I am retired. But still in the corner praying and doing what I can to support our family of Health Care Workers..

I imagine that they have computers in the room to chart on, so they do not have to leave to chart. If they are spending four hours in the room to reduce the frequency of removing/applying PPE then they probably have some down time to chart. I know not all hospitals have computers in the rooms but in this situation that is just how I envisioned it. Sorry if this was already addressed/answered, I didn't read all the pages of replies.

I couldn't imagine wearing PPE for that long either. Same reason why I couldn't be in the OR. Masks for too long make me nauseated even with fresh breath and peppermint oil.

So we are not stopping or restricting folks from these high risk regions. But some of the major airports are going to have increased screening. At which time they will place those who are suspicious in quarantine. Then if they develop Ebola they get transferred to a US Hospital, where they can receive the best treatment and care?. So if I am sick and I can get to the USA then I have a better chance of tx. As well as not being a financial burden to my Motherland. Time to close travel. . Seems to me that is a hard call. So just monitoring air-travel is not going to be the answer. We must restrict all travel from these high risk regions? We always hear about terrorism that if we don't defeat them over there we will be fighting them here. Well Ebola is the same concept lets defeat over there...

There are no direct flights to the US from any of the affected African countries. People there fly to some other part of the world (typically Europe) and switch planes to come here. So, are we going to shut down all flights from Europe?? We would have to basically close the US to all air traffic entirely to accomplish what you are calling for. Maybe you think that makes sense and is a workable solution, but it doesn't seem v. promising to me.

Specializes in ER.

The biggest risk of contracting Ebola is during the removal of PPE (when your PPE is sufficient to begin with, otherwise the risk is just as great during patient care).

In addition, proper PPE takes time to put on and take off the right way. 10 to 20 minutes for each.

which has nothing to do with staying in a room for an EXTENDED period of time. Initially, these patients are not very sick outwardly. I think that if they could be trained to take their temperatures every hour and show the staff through a window, as well as spiking new bags of IVF (which a monkey could be trained to do), then that would eliminate going into the rooms as much. What else are you doing in a room? Beyond labs, IVF, vital signs.... I can't imagine why one would need to be in a room all shift long. So you don/doff 20 minutes at a time and not go back in for hours, but visualize the patient from a window/video area, that seems reasonable to me.

Also, what about the nurse having to void? drink water? It would be impossible not to sweat and become dehydrated, and when you urinate every hour, what are you going to do?

There are no direct flights to the US from any of the affected African countries. People there fly to some other part of the world (typically Europe) and switch planes to come here. So, are we going to shut down all flights from Europe?? We would have to basically close the US to all air traffic entirely to accomplish what you are calling for. Maybe you think that makes sense and is a workable solution, but it doesn't seem v. promising to me.

Passengers on all incoming, international flights are required to present their passports/visas before entering the country. It is irrelevant that there are no direct flights arriving in the U.S. from Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia.

That said, it is certainly possible that a relative few could circumvent a travel band, if they had a second passport.

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