Is it fair for the media to blame the RN in Texas for contracting Ebola?

Nurses COVID

Published

  1. Is it fair for the media to blame the RN in Texas for contracting Ebola?

    • 15
      Yes
    • 448
      No

463 members have participated

I am watching cnn outfront hosted by erin burnett. Throughout this program she has said the most offensive things about nurses that are outrageous. This journalist has no medical experience. Has never worked as a nurse. However, she is actively critizing somone as they fight for their life. This nurse made a huge sacrifice by caring for someone who had ebola. The head of the cdc blame the nurse, doctors are doing inteviews blame the nurse, people who have never worked in a medical setting blame the nurse. We as nurses need stand up and demand the truth be told.

Do I feel the media is fair in blaming the nurse for catching Ebola? No. Since when does the media cover a Breaking News Story and have all the facts? I mean, some may be kind enough to put 'Developing' in the title, but it's still speculation. To keep up with competitors, they then bring in the fun anchors who question each others opinions to keep their channel relevant until the next piece of information comes in that they can throw at the public.

I see it this way. Blaming the Nurse for catching Ebola while doing her job with the PPE she was provided - is like blaming a Police Officer for being shot when his department didn't provide him a bulletproof vest.

I feel this nurse stepped up the the plate where a lot of nurses would have ran.

As for the other nurse's decision to board that plane.. I just have to cringe and bite my tongue.

You can't possibly be referring to this jackass:

Michael C. Burgess - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I actually read the "Wikipedia" page on Burgess and cannot find anything he has done that is bad. Granted, Wikipedia is hardly an iron clad source of information, but I still could not find anything that is damning evidence.

On the other hand, Rep. Burgess is one of those eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil Republicans, and we, as nurses here who care, know that they should not be allowed to exist on this planet, right? ;)

He masturbated a fetus? :eek:

OK, I found a couple of articles in the news media on what he reportedly said.

...Fetus, don't fail me now...

Loyal weim-- honestly, im very scared right now too exactly because of what you said. Whether it's intentional or not I'm afraid there is more to it than what's being told.

This is a good article below about the hazmat suit and training that should be required for nurses and others treating ebola patients. In the media, and between different people interviewed including Texas Presbyterian nurses as well as friend and former coworker of Ms. Pham, I am hearing very different things about the PPE actually used by nurses caring for Duncan. Of course there was a difference between what was used before confirmation of diagnosis and after as well. But people are speaking who do not really know from start to finish, leaving confusion. Personally I believe the suit with respirator that Doctors Without Borders use in Africa, should be what is required for nurses and others (RT, CNA, etc.) involved in direct care with close contact. Even if viral particles are aerosolized for a short time due to projectile vomiting or toilet flushing (which also aerosolizes particles), that may be long enough to transmit in an airborne manner. We need the respirators.

I'm a Hazmat-Trained Hospital Worker: Here's What No One Is Telling You About Ebola

by Abby Hoffman

I'm a Hazmat-Trained Hospital Worker: Here's What No One Is Telling You About EbolaÂ*|Â*Abby Norman

I'm all for recognizing those who advocate for healthcare workers, but I don't think 'masturbating fetus' guy is really who we want to tie our wagon to.

I was watching the line of questioning. I do not know his personal politics. My focus is holding these AGENCIES responsible. They are the one's that set policies for us as healthcare workers.

Specializes in Rehab, Med/Surg.

This is what angers me about the CDC regarding this entire situation.

Currently, the CDC only is recommending to front-line health-care workers such as NURSES personal protective equipment for EBOLA from the BSL - Level 2 - for microbes that pose a "moderate risk" yet classify Ebola as a BSL - Level 4 - a toxins that is exotic and frequently fatal and has no treatment or vaccine, thus advising the wearing of full body, air-supplied, positive pressure suits - basically - a hazmat suit.

Additionally, for potential and known Ebola victims, the CDC only recommends a single patient room (containing a private bathroom) with the door closed and a log of all persons entering the patient's room for our front-line staff, no dedicated supply and exhaust air, or use of vacuum lines and decontamination systems. Is this appropriate? Should more precautions be taken/recommended? Are the BSL Level 2 protected nurses who became infected with Eboa in the United States this past week a wakeup call that the current CDC recommended Level 2 precautions are not enough?

Why is the CDC only recommending BSL - Level 2 precautions to its frontline nurses and health-care professionals? Is it really fair to be blaming nurses for a breach in protocol when the protocol recommendations may be insufficient and never breached at all?

Please see the following PDF I put together about the above information detailed further with information taken from the CDC website.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4u2BWNTMUiJeUVpRjN3Z2lkdWM/view

binary, the link you provided currently is not working.

Fair or not fair I've always been told if you get infected it's your own fault. I am sure it's not that simple...

Loyal weim-- honestly, im very scared right now too exactly because of what you said. Whether it's intentional or not I'm afraid there is more to it than what's being told.

glittergirlRN,

Yeah, you are not alone. This thing is scary, period. Honestly, I don't even know what to believe anymore about this virus. I mean, I have read that it has been around since the late 1970s. Everything we have done thus far seems so rediculous...

1. "Chances of it coming here are very remote". We get it like 2-4 days later.

2. Cannot or will not shut down flights to/from infected countries. Yet, they are telling the very HC people that treat infected people to avoid travel on busses and planes (i.e. after the nurse incident to Cleveland.

3. "We have it contained"... no they do not... as now they must track over 100 people from the airplane.

4. "Ebola is transmitted only by fluid contact." RRrrrright... so it spreads this fast and yet only transmitted by fluid exchange?

5. We see a video of the nurse boarding a plane surrounded by people in Hazmat suits... yet there is a guy in a suit, tie, and a clipboard but NO HAZMAT suit?!#?# CNN literally said with a straight face that it is "protocol" because the folks in those suits have very limited visibility!

6. Releasing the guy from the hospital even though he is sick and he CAME FROM LIBERIA? Seriously???

7. The nurse that flew to Cleveland actually called the CDC to express her concerns and to notify them that she was to be flying. CDC told her that she is fine... the fever is below "threshold" for Ebola.

I don't get it...

Regards,

LW

LoyalWeim, I suggest you read this: How Ebola sped out of control | The Washington Post and watch this: Dr. Fauci: U.S. Should 'Absolutely Not' Suspend Flights to and From Ebola-Stricken Countries | CNS News

tl;dr:

part of the reason why ebola spread in the first place is that Liberia has a weak government structure from its past two civil wars and it is still recovering from that. If you refuse people in or out of Liberia, that would create panic, an ideal ingredient for civil unrest.

What happens during civil wars? People flee their homes. Disease spreads. Disease has no borders. Not to mention that the epidemic would worsen because of no health care supplies if no one was allowed in or out.

You're right that quarantine would be a better option for the US if roles were reversed, but only because we have a stable government in a wealthy country. If we didn't allow people to fly out of the US if roles were reversed, the amount and type of panic is nowhere near what it would be like in West Africa, and it wouldn't breed civil unrest to the tune of war.

You don't think people are starting to panic NOW? A civil war is not required for panic or chaos. If this thing grows teeth and spreads then you will see panic firsthand. So you favor quarantining say... Dallas, TX but not Liberia? And this is because we have a "stable government"? How stable do you think our government or society would be if this became widespread? We are already seeing the stock markets react... these are dominos falling. Some parents are keeping their children out of school...

I think you and I disagree because we first disagree with this from the Washington Post:

"Ebola can only be contracted through direct contact with a sick person's bodily fluids. That means saliva, feces, urine, blood, vomit or semen. It isn't transmitted through the air, so you are more likely to catch a cold on a flight than Ebola."

Fact is, I do not buy this. So the rate of infection in Africa is doubling every three weeks because those people are not first-world? Or... because they are still kissing each other? Healthcare workers that wear protective suits are dying? How does this jive with that statement above? As long as you believe that statement and while I do not, then we cannot agree on the travel bans either. I believe this to me more infectious than stated.

And... even if I am wrong lets not forget that Ebola is a virus that mutates as it spreads. If it mutates to being airborne then imagine how fast the situation changes as infected people fly?

Read this article: Leading scientist warns Ebola is changing to become more contagious | Daily Mail Online

Note, and I quote: "Meanwhile three nurses, two in the U.S. and one in Spain have caught the infection while treating Ebola patients, despite wearing protective suits." (emphasis mine)

Regards,

LW

+ Add a Comment