Survey Update......Survey is now closed. Please go to Survey Results to see the response from the allnurses community.
Once again, it is a nurse who has taken the Ebola media spotlight this week. Kaci Hickox, a nurse who cared for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone found herself quarantined against her will in New Jersey upon her return to the US, in spite of the fact that she tested negative for the virus. After a 3 day isolation in less than desirable accommodations, she was transported home where she was supposed to remain under home quarantine but is now declaring that the quarantine is unnecessary and counterproductive, and is openly defying the order by going out in public.
Additional breaches in voluntary quarantine from those returning from Ebola-plagued Africa occurred when NBC medical correspondent, Dr. Nancy Snyderman in New Jersey and Dr. Craig Spencer in New York left their homes and ventured out into public spaces.
On Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called for voluntary home quarantine for workers with the highest risk for Ebola infection. It also specified that most medical personnel returning from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea would not need to be kept in isolation.
In spite of this, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, mandated a 21-day mandatory quarantine policy for all healthcare workers exposed to Ebola. Although this move has received much criticism, it did get the support of Dr. Bruce Beutler, an American doctor and researcher and Nobel Prize winner for Medicine and Physiology for his work researching the the body’s overall immune system. He is currently the Director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at the University of Texas Southwestern Center in Dallas. He favors Christie’s quarantine policy “because it’s not entirely clear that they can’t transmit the disease,” referring to asymptomatic healthcare workers like Kaci Hickox.
New York and Illinois have also have followed suit and mandated mandatory 21-day home quarantine policies. Although there is plenty of scientific evidence indicating there’s very little chance that a random person will contract Ebola unless they touch bodily fluids of an infected person, the thought is that the authorities need to do something to calm Americans’ fears. As Mike Osterholm, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, says, "You want to try to eliminate not just real risk, but perceived risk."
There are thoughts on both sides of this issue which has led to heated discussions at times. There are concerns about the potential impact with both pathways of re-entry requirements for Ebola healthcare workers. What are your thoughts about this? Please take our survey to share your opinions. Let your voice be heard.
She is just doing it for the publicly and it will backfire on her if she does test positive down the road.
Wow did your crystal ball tell you that?
The truth is that she is not symptomatic right now; if she is in the future she will be treated as such. As of now she has the same rights as you and me.
If the president thinks there is nothing to worry about let him bring the returning doctors and nurses coming back from there to live with him and his family for a couple weeks, then maybe I will believe what he says.
If the president thinks there is nothing to worry about let him bring the returning doctors and nurses coming back from there to live with him and his family for a couple weeks, then maybe I will believe what he says.
If the president thinks there is nothing to worry about let him bring the returning doctors and nurses coming back from there to live with him and his family for a couple weeks, then maybe I will believe what he says.
Will not happen.
As long as she continued to be a asymptomatic she'd be welcome to come stay with me.
OK, one more time, for emphasis: You do not go from being asymptomatic to spewing vomit and shooting diarrhea out your tookus. Ebola doesn't work like that. If this is what you believe, then no amount of reasoning with you is worthwhile.
People believed the Earth was flat for generations. Science proved that belief was untrue, and now we know better. (Although there are still a few Flat Earthers out there.)
Yes, I now understand that, thanks! I'm referring to the Ebola info, as I am already convinced that the Earth is not flat.
It also wasn't something I ever declared to be true/fact. I simply didn't know. I happened to be reading through this thread, and the question popped into my head. So I posted it. At the time, I wasn't worried about looking stupid (Now, I know better! There are such things as stupid questions, especially at AN). I was just curious. So, after being ridiculed a little bit, I got my answer. I suppose I could have researched it thoroughly prior to posting, but I thought maybe a discussion with fellow nurses might be just as informative. Eventually, it proved to be!
She is just doing it for the publicly and it will backfire on her if she does test positive down the road.
Why do you think she is doing this for publicity? She volunteers to goto Africa to treat ebola patients giving up her time and money. Does that really sound like someone who is looking to make a "book deal" or seek publicity?
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
She is just doing it for the publicly and it will backfire on her if she does test positive down the road.
Publicity of civil rights violations is a good thing. If she keeps silent, who will be next? What about if you had your civil rights violated to placate public fear without a basis in scientific rationale? Will you keep silent?
Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.- Martin Niemöller
If the president thinks there is nothing to worry about let him bring the returning doctors and nurses coming back from there to live with him and his family for a couple weeks, then maybe I will believe what he says.
Will not happen.
He has already shown that he believes in science. He met with Nina Pham the day she was discharged from NIH. He has imposed no federal quarantine restrictions on asymptomatic patients, and yet the only way you will believe what the president says about ebola (which comes directly from ebola experts) is if he let's them come and live in his private quarters in the White House.
I am thinking that you won't believe anything about ebola other than what you want to believe no matter what the scientific evidence is.
Yes, I now understand that, thanks! I'm referring to the Ebola info, as I am already convinced that the Earth is not flat.
It also wasn't something I ever declared to be true/fact. I simply didn't know. I happened to be reading through this thread, and the question popped into my head. So I posted it. At the time, I wasn't worried about looking stupid (Now, I know better! There are such things as stupid questions, especially at AN). I was just curious. So, after being ridiculed a little bit, I got my answer. I suppose I could have researched it thoroughly prior to posting, but I thought maybe a discussion with fellow nurses might be just as informative. Eventually, it proved to be!
Thanks, all!
Lol...I think you must be one of those very positive and perky nurses. I bet you are always happy at work. You have taken every criticism and tried to be positive about.
It also wasn't something I ever declared to be true/fact. I simply didn't know. I happened to be reading through this thread, and the question popped into my head. So I posted it. At the time, I wasn't worried about looking stupid (Now, I know better! There are such things as stupid questions, especially at AN). I was just curious. So, after being ridiculed a little bit, I got my answer. I suppose I could have researched it thoroughly prior to posting, but I thought maybe a discussion with fellow nurses might be just as informative. Eventually, it proved to be!
Thanks, all!
Just wanted to point out that I was the first person to answer your question and I did it without ridicule. I'm sorry that other posters were less polite.
There is some reputable research that supports the possibility that the virus can be spread during the incubation period. My personal belief is that quarantine is necessary.
BostonFNP, APRN
2 Articles; 5,584 Posts
Wow did your crystal ball tell you that?
The truth is that she is not symptomatic right now; if she is in the future she will be treated as such. As of now she has the same rights as you and me.
Sent from my iPhone.