Are you prepared for Avian Flu?

Our public health nursing is not the same thing as home health nursing.
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but public health nurses, I believe, are employed by the state to deal with problems that effect the health of the public such as TB, hepatitus, and the like. Home health takes care of folks who need nursing intervention whilst they are living at home or in an assisted living environment. It is not total care, but nursing interventions and treatment.

Your system sounds far more advanced and geared to caring for people at home. I think much of our care is geared to caring for people in facilities.
This may be due to our lack of extended family situations in the US. There is no family available to provide care for many if they remain in the home.
We already know that this will be a problem if people become infected. For many, there will be no one to care for them at home. Therefore, we will need facilities to house and care for many victims.

I'll post a likely unpopular opinion. Sorry in advance if it offends.

Ive spent 30 years busting my butt doing patient care. Ive gotten hernias, ruined my back and had to have rotator cuff surgery for job related injuries. Ive gotten parvo virus thats caused residual arthralgias and daily pain; and god knows what else from work.

Ive had ARDS once already and beat the odds. I have mild COPD.

I hav ZERO, zip, zilch,nada, NO interest in dieing in a pandemic, espeiclly if it happens because the facility I work for didnt have the sense the Good Lord gave out to prepare. They've had warning, theres no excuse for it, besids finanical greed or incompetance.

Once the PPE is gone- I'm outta there!

I'm even considering being outta there before hand, in case they try to sequester us forcefully.

In 30 years of mostly ER nursing, Ive learned a lot. There are a not of nice people out there, and it makes me feel good to help them. But theres also an incredibly large and growing number of the population I deal with that has the belief that we are to be manipulated to their benefit. I have been intentionally attacked more times than I can count, and its noting new...it happens everywhere. They could care less about us, and many would slit our throats for their own benefit.

As you may have guesed, I've lost my romantic notions about nursing, We supply a commodity,and we are very expendable to both the employers and customers. I still believe in helping, I want to- but I'm not putting my life on the line if I can help it. I didnt go into this business thinking it was high risk, like police, fire or soldiers do- most of my colleagues in my age bracket didnt either.

I honestly believe I have given enough of my health and my mental and emotional well being already, and paid my dues to the public and my profession in the last three decades. I dont accept that anyone has the right to expect or ask for more, just because they couldnt provide the minimum safety requirements. No, my family comes first now, and thats the bottom line for me.

Thats one of the reasons I personally wish they would prepare, because then I wouldnt have to face the decision of walking out, with proper prior preparation and decent stoks of PPE I could participate, which is what I would like to do.

LMonty911,

I think many would agree because of their families. I can certainly understand this. My spouse is not happy that I will be working, but I keep thinking of who the victims are likely to be....kids and young people.
It is a personal decision that we all likely will have to make unless the state makes it for us.

What do you think the likelihood is, of H5N1 in the high path form being present in North America? I think that it is here simply because in other countries they found the high path form in dead birds prior to finding low path in live birds. Why would it be different in North America? They tell us only the low path is here, but that just does not make sense. What is so special about North America that it would be different from the rest of the world?

I do not have a crystal ball. I am just looking around at what governments, and health agencies, and the World Bank are saying, and I do not like what I am hearing. But, that does not matter, and neither do my personal beliefs. Pandemics occur every 30 to 40 years, that is what I hear. It does not matter if we are ready or not or if we believe in it or not.

I do wish heathcare facilities would wake up and buy those PPEs.

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