Nurse who survived Ebola is suing the hospital

Editorial Team / Admin · Mar 1, 2015

Here's another article that might have a bit more information: Exclusive: Nurse Nina Pham after Ebola: Terrible side effects, lawsuit against employer

The comments are a bit, how should I say it, inflammatory?

icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN · Mar 1, 2015

Brave girl. She took care of Mr Duncan and now she is exposing the indignities and dangers of working in an unsafe hospital.

Nina Pham is an articulate and credible BSN CCRN with a very strong case.

I hope that she is awarded millions.

caliotter3 · Mar 1, 2015

This will make her extremely desirable for future employment as a nurse.

Editorial Team / Admin · Mar 1, 2015

This will make her extremely desirable for future employment as a nurse.

Do I sense some sarcasm there? However, if her lawsuit does pan out, think about the benefits for nurses everywhere who are working in unsafe conditions and the effect this could have.

BecomingNursey · Mar 1, 2015

As an ER nurse I have worried about whether I could come into contact with some type of serious and very infectious infection. We are in the ER. The front lines of the hospital. If anyone is going to come into contact with a serious and infectious illness and not even know it and not be able to have the correct isolation garb on to ward off this infection it will be me and my coworkers. Unless we all wear isolation gear in every single room we go into there is no way to prevent this. It's very scary and very real. If her hospital didn't have the correct protocols in place and didn't train their employees on the isolation garb process she should be awarded what she's asking for. And the hospital should be ashamed of themselves if they take her to court over this. They need to take ownership of ruining her life by not training correctly and for not having the correct isolation gear available to this nurse (if that's what happened). Now if it was the nurse ignoring the isolation cart outside of the room then that's a completely different story.

I'm not telling you it's going to be easy, I'm telling you it's going to be worth it.

Author: Art Williams

allnurses Guide · Mar 1, 2015

There have been a lot of nasty comments on the internet about Nina Pham and her decision to sue. Some saying she's a gold digger and others saying that every nurse knows and accepts the risks when they enter this field, and she should just be thankful she's alive. I wonder if these same people would say this to a firefighter who was injured because he wasn't given proper equipment. I applaud her decision to sue. I think she's courageous to speak out, knowing that it will likely cost her her career. She should be compensated and other employers should take note. Nurses are not an expendable resource and we deserve to have the appropriate tools to do our jobs safely.

anon456, BSN, RN · Mar 1, 2015

Do I sense some sarcasm there? However, if her lawsuit does pan out, think about the benefits for nurses everywhere who are working in unsafe conditions and the effect this could have.

I actually think she could be a very good voice for nurses. I can see her stepping into a big nurse leadership position in the future.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Mar 1, 2015

I think the hospital will settle with her. I don't think it would be a smart PR move on their part to go to court on this. I'm sure Amber Vinson won't be far behind with her own lawsuit. It wouldn't surprise me if the hospital settles with both but makes nondisclosure a condition of the settlement.

_zoubisoubisou_ · Mar 1, 2015

Good for her.

icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN · Mar 1, 2015

Several years ago, a nurse that I knew contracted a very virulent strain of cdiff when there was an outbreak of this strain. She went through hospitalizations, home infusion therapy and TPN. She was denied workers compensation and ended up on public assistance and was hoping to be approved for the last ditch effort, fecal transplant.

I have a feeling that this is going to be a landmark case for those who provide direct patient care. I hope that it is tried in Federal court and that the Duncan family waives HIPAA so that she can testify without fear of reprisal.

This lawsuit is perfectly positioned to be the catalyst we need to expose corporate greed in healthcare and pass legislation for safe ratios, safe working conditions and more.

Once again Nina, the world is watching you fight back and this time, we are proud of you for taking a stand.

trinitymaster · Mar 2, 2015

She deserves every penny she gets. Not only should she sue the Hospital, but she should also sue the CDC (if she is not already doing this).

The Canadian version of the CDC had posted a study about Ebola going airborne from pigs.

Reston Ebola is airborne and we should treat all Ebola as potentially airborne.