Liberia: Nurses Abandoned Redemption Hospital

[Been there,done that]

Liberia: Nurses Abandoned Redemption Hospital

The Ebola Virus outbreak is terrifying, I realize Liberia is far from home for most of us, but it most certainly can be transmitted anywhere.

"The Redemption Hospital workers said their colleague died after apparently coming in contact with an Ebola suspect due to the lack of protective materials."

Easily transmitted with a 90 % death rate.

Protective gear or not, I could not provide care to Ebola victims.

How about you?

[OCNRN63, RN]

What is our responsibility as nurses? When becoming a part of this career, are we expected to take on these kinds of risks?

​I don't think we're required to deliberately put ourselves in harm's way without protective equipment. An emergency situation is one thing, but a hospital is supposed to have the appropriate supplies needed to care for patients.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

I war with myself on this. My self preservation says "no way!" My responsibility to my family says "No way!"

My inner nurse voice whispers "If not me, then who?"

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

I am sort of numb to these discussion points.

I think you can analyze these scenarios to death with no resolution.

My peace with it is this, my decision will made in the moment of reality.

The only given is that my first choice would always be to survive as best I can to return to those I love.

[FLAlleycat]

What is our responsibility as nurses? When becoming a part of this career, are we expected to take on these kinds of risks?

This reminds me of the questions nurses asked when AIDS patients were being admitted into hospitals in the '80s. Yes, it was the responsibility of the RN to care for the patient; however, only nurses with a lot of experience and thus less likely to make careless errors were assigned.

[elkpark]

What is our responsibility as nurses? When becoming a part of this career, are we expected to take on these kinds of risks?

Yes, we are. That's the point of licensure -- we are choosing to take on a greater responsibility to the general public than the average Joe on the street. From reading the Ebola-related threads here over the last several days, it appears that a lot of our colleagues don't get that (is that another of those things that is no longer being taught in nursing school?)

[elkpark]

This reminds me of the questions nurses asked when AIDS patients were being admitted into hospitals in the '80s. Yes, it was the responsibility of the RN to care for the patient; however, only nurses with a lot of experience and thus less likely to make careless errors were assigned.

Maybe that was the case where you worked. When the med-surg unit on which I worked got its first AIDS patient, I was the "youngest" and least experienced RN on the unit. Several of the more experienced RNs flatly refused to care for that individual, (at any point during his extended hospitalization), so I ended up volunteering to take him most days. To this day, I don't understand why they were not fired on the spot.

[casi, ASN, RN]

With the proper PPE and training I definitely would care for an individual with Ebola. I would care for those coming to the US and being put in specialty units with nurses who have training to deal with them. However, I wouldn't volunteer to head over to Liberia to care for these people.

[TheGooch]

I just want to make a comment about the nurses who are criticizing those who would refuse to treat someone with this disease. It's all fine and dandy to post on a public forum that YOU would do it with that smug sense of superiority that I can read between the lines of your posts. However, if and when the time comes and you actually are faced with the reality of this disease and having to take care of people who have it I wonder how many of you would actually live by your words that you've posted here.

It's all a moot point since we are all anonymous here and are unable to see who all these saintly people really are and if they would do what they say they would do.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Just getting to this thread.

To answer the query "what's our responsibility as nurses?" I'd have to say that it's my job to take care of my assigned patients to the best of my ability, and to advocate for them as most appropriate.

It is NOT my responsibility to risk my health and potentially reasonably expect to lose my life because I am a nurse. It is absolutely NOT why I hold a license, and it is NOT what separates me from the Joe on the street, I have to respectfully disagree with that sentiment. My license ensures my patients that I am qualified to care for them in the health condition that they are in. My license does NOT tether me to an unsafe situation or require I take on patients who put my life at risk. My license does not require I risk certain death because I hold that license. THAT concept is certainly taught in school today.

Whoever is asking me to care for infectious disease patients must provide me with proper PPE. Barring that, I'm not going near them or touching them anyway, so it's really not a matter of how I'd feel about the infectious nature of the patient: if I'm protected, and feel safe in that protection, then fine, of course I'll do what's needing to be done.

From the stories circulating, the nurses did not feel safe, did not feel protected, did not have appropriate gear to give them the reasonable expectation of safety from the disease. If I were one of them, you can bet serious money on the fact that I'd be walking (if not running) down the hall in the other direction from the ward!

I am not an Angel of Mercy. I am not a martyr. I am not hoping some Pope will beatify me post-mortem (which, given the fact I'm Jewish, would be odd anyway.....). I am a qualified nurse who does a pretty darned good job of handling patient issues and would be willing to do whatever necessary AS LONG AS I was also safe in the process.

My family continuing to have me as a wife and mother is more important to me than ANY patient, period.

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

Sing it RNsRWe

[icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN]

I would take care of an Ebola hemmorrhagic virus patient, not because I am selfless, but because I am fascinated by the transmission and treatment of infectious diseases. Bloody messes don't scare me. Give me good doctors, CDC guidelines and the PPE and resources to provide isolation and I'm good.

edited to add: There are very stringent isolation guidelines posted on the CDC website which include no aerosol generating devices, guards at each pt room to ensure that PPE is worn and removed in accordance to procedure, specific PPE, and regional quarantine facilities. Everyone should familiarize themselves with these guidelines.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Bump.. now this is retrospective.