RNSue

Then there is the whole Worker's Comp issue. If you aren't tested did you get it at work?

HaHa I have Hiking EDRN's T-shirt saying on a coolie cup in my car!!

Whew! Where do I start? 1. I do not want to play the blame game of nurses vs. doctors. I feel in the face of this situation it is humans vs. ebola. Playing the blame game is a moot point now. There are more important things to worry about. 2. I want to read posts and articles on the scientific aspects of the ebola virus and how it spreads, mutates, and how to contain it. 3. Missy Write-- I was not being sarcastic when I posted about Amber having a low grade temp and being positive. Wasn't she whisked off to isolation? Please don't take offense because I expressed my opinion. Please lets all maintain a professional demeanor. Lots of people are reading these posts who aren't healthcare providers. We need to remember that and not sink to behavior that degrades ourselves and our profession. 4. From what I've read the experts are not certain that it can't mutate and become airborne. The doctor who wrote "The Hot Zone" said a couple days ago on the news that this could easily happen. Therefore I am all for MANDATORY STRICT ISOLATION if there is a possibility a person could have ebola, no matter what stage it is in. Because we just don't know enough right now. We have professional people getting ebola. We need to CONTAIN it. Hospitals do not have details in place yet. Training is not complete. There are still issues with protocols. Some of us "more experienced nurses" remember the beginnings of MRSA, HIV, VRE. We all tried to contain it and we all saw it spread slowly across the country over the years. From our perspective this is going to continue to spread like everything else did, but EBOLA is much more deadly. RNSue

Missy Write-- But what about Amber Vinson?? She had a low grade fever and still came up POSITIVE! RNSue

Dr. Craig Spencer has tested positive for ebola after a week with no new diagnosed cases in this country. He was out and about the day before--going bowling, riding in the subway and a taxi-- before being admitted to the hospital this afternoon with a temp of 103. Has he been in a bubble since his return to NYC on October 14? At the end of his volunteer period in Guinea did the Doctors Without Borders do any teaching about self quarantining for awhile? Has he not been watching ANY news? Was he checking his temp regularly on his own? Was anyone else checking him? Good grief, he is a DOCTOR who has been in WEST AFRICA working with EBOLA patients!! This is unbelievable! How many UNKNOWN people has he had contact with in passing? This ISN'T the FLU!! Is the CDC on their way to NYC Bellevue Hospital? Are they going to move him to one of the 4 hospitals that specializes in ebola? I have to sign off now. I have to sit quietly and just breathe for awhile. RNSue

Thinking of you and wishing you a speedy recovery. RNSue

What about STAFFING? None of the new recommendations say anything about ebola patients being one on one or two on one. Who can do all this donning and doffing and taking a shower AND have other patients? You KNOW the hospitals will push us to the limit like they always do. What do you think? RNSue

A whole week with no new diagnoses!! Amber is negative! Nina, I am sending you prayers and well wishes! RN Sue

6 DAYS! No new diagnosed cases of ebola. The lab worker on the cruise ship is cleared. Inside Edition just had Dr. Preston, author of "The Hot Zone" on their show. He said ebola can easily mutate. He also said that whoever was in charge of recommending the PPE and training of it's usage in the hospital where the two nurses caught it are responsible for them catching it. Can't get more "expert" than him!! RNSue

OH NO THEY DIDN"T!-- I am reading the new CDC guidelines on USA Today. I'm not sure they are up to standards for where they SHOULD be yet. For example--either respirators with air blowing in OR N95 masks under the hood. N95 masks are not in level 4 precautions. Go to wikipedia.com and search for Level 4 precautions. THESE are the ones we need to follow even if the CDC says different. The Nurses Union has requested Level 4 precautions. You KNOW the hospitals are going to go with whatever is cheaper. We have not come this far to quit now. Stand your ground!

October 20, 2014. No new cases diagnosed in 5 days in the USA. Mr. Duncan's friends and family can sigh with relief. They have passed the 21-day mark. The unknown person in Emory will be discharged soon and the photographer is negative for ebola. It is a good day. RNSue

GOOD NEWS!!! The Spanish nurse has tested NEGATIVE for ebola! I'm optimistic that Nina and Amber are going to be OK too. Don't forget that, overall, people in developed countries have better health than people in third world countries. Maybe it is a factor for survival, who knows. We have also gone ANOTHER DAY with no NEW diagnosed ebola cases in this country!!! RNSue

Well, an UPDATE---- I'm having trouble with my email and I can see the titles of my emails but can't open the content. So I can see that I got a refund from the GoFundMe account on Facebook by Christine Sweeney but I don't know the details of WHY. I know that there has been at least $ 80,000 collected( last I checked) in the account set up by Sarah Strittmatter. To comment on some of the posts I say... Most of her stuff has probably been trashed. Even her dog's boarding bills will need to be paid for. It takes YEARS for lawsuits to be settled. RNSue

As far as we know, no one has been diagnosed with Ebola in the past 3 days in our country. I just want to say THANK YOU to whomever is in charge. Nina and Amber, Hang in There! ,,,>^.I.^ RNSue

With him on his way to the unemployment office, Tom Frieden should take Dr. Varga, CEO of the Dallas Presbyterian Hospital, the parent company CEO, the Chief of Infectious Diseases and the Infection Control Nurse. Don't these people stay on top of the news? This situation is exactly like the situation in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The news people were reporting on all the death and destruction and the folks in Washington were oblivious. Why? Because they weren't keeping up with current events. Don't they even have "people" to do that reading and watching of the news FOR them and report their findings? I went into nursing because I was INTERESTED in the human body, how it works, and disease processes. I read books and news articles and keep up with current events. I have been reading about ebola for 6 months now because it has been in the news. I have noticed in the last 15-20 years a drastic change in the way things in hospitals are handled. It used to be in a proactive and anticipatory manner. Now the atmosphere is more reactive and "let's not worry about something until we need to." Has anyone else noticed this? Do you think it has something to do with the change from science based focus to economic based focus on the part of hospital management? :no:Getting my "Estate Record" up to date.

Just watched the speech from Ohio. I've read every comment on this thread and others and did not know until now that the 70-some healthcare providers who were known to be exposed to Duncan were still going about their lives as usual. So I gather they are still working and taking care of patients? The news pundits who are so outraged that fellow fliers were possibly exposed when Amber Vinson flew to Ohio with a low grade fever are just going to pass out when they find out the other 70-some are still WORKING...with PATIENTS! This is not going to be contained until the CDC, hospitals who put $ before common sense, and the PTB get their heads out their asses and crack down!!! The CDC should have been in Dallas within 2 hours of that positive lab report. According to the CDC article from 12/10/2013 that I read somewhere on an allnurses ebola thread there was a regional ebola resource place set up in Houston. What were THEY doing? Moving forward, we nurses need to stand together and speak up for WHAT WE KNOW. This is far worse than a lack of response to hurricane damage. This is going to be a NIGHTMARE. I hope that some news reporter is reading THIS post and picks up the ball.

FYI I went to the latest news on Nina to see how she is doing and clicked on a page that took me to a Facebook community page titled Help Nina Pham. There was a link to GoFundMe by Christine Sweeney. I donated some $ and backed out of the site. I then went to the Dallas Presbyterian Hospital website and clicked on a GoFundMe link by a friend of hers named Sarah Strittmatter. Does anyone know if both of these are legitimate? I hope so because if they aren't someone is scamming. BEWARE!!

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT... On a random non-medical news post someone brought up the fact that ebola is now in the sewer system in Dallas. The dog in Spain was put down because dogs can carry ebola without symptoms. What about rats, cats, opossums, etc.? Is the sewage "contained" in an "isolation" unit? I don't think so. I was around when MRSA was new. All precautions were taken with. MRSA still managed to get to every part of the country. The hospital in Dallas HAS to say there was a breach of protocol in order for the "nurse"(CNA, housekeeper, lab worker---they are all Nurses to the press and GP) to get ebola. That is for legal reasons and to lessen THEIR liability. I'll bet she gets fired. So.. if it is the sewer system now is infected with ebola what about the hospital's liability for THAT?! The situation is getting scarier and scarier.

MY personal anthem... She works HARD for the money do do do do So HARD for it, honey She works HARD for the money so you better treat her RIGHT!!!! Donna Sumner(?) The video had at least one nurse dancing in the street. Easily converted to cover both guys and girls... S(H)e Did you know Country Joe McDonald has a web site about Florence Nightengale, his hero?

LoriAlabamaRN, Thanks for resurrecting the post I started on 12/12/00. It was fun remembering things from back then. Allnurses even included it in one of their newsletters. I have one more: "I Remember When..." the level of professionalism was much higher. We took our jobs seriously. Sure, we had moments of fun with our co-workers and the patients even, but nothing like the unprofessionalism going on now. It seems the newer nurses are quick to talk back, argue about advice and just generally show no respect for nurses with triple or quadruple the years of experience that they have. They are quick to dismiss any wisdom or words of advice, even about patient care issues. They don't know that we have been around since before DRGs and the business model for healthcare were initiated. Very few of them keep up with nursing news or new legislation, even when it could benefit them. They don't even read nursing journals. I miss the discussions we used to have during downtime. I have worked on some units where the main topic of conversations is what new clothes they bought recently, what newest piece of jewelry their husbands have just bought for them, and what vacation they are going to take. Which are all interesting topics, but THAT IS ALL THEY TALK ABOUT. They have their heads in the sand and don't even know it. I have read alot of articles about what needs to be done to "FIX" the working environment for nurses. What these experts don't realize is that we HAD the right environment at one time. I miss those days.

Also, "Wall of Silence: The Untold Story of the Medical Mistakes that Kill and Injure Millions of Americans" by Rosemary Gibson and Janardan Prasad Singh. A broad overview of the health care fiasco.

Had I not just finished reading "Wall of Silence: The Untold Story of The Medical Mistakes that Kill and Injure Millions of Americans" by Rosemary Gibson and Janardan Prasad Singh, I would have been shocked out of my drawers by these stories. But now I realize that there are many, many WRONG things going on out there. The nursing shortage and issues nurses have are just one small aspect of a HUGE problem in health care. After 25 years as a nurse, I'm looking elsewhere to see what I can do to make a living for the next 20 years. My conscience won't let me continue in health care very much longer.

I've read the two Readers Digest articles, the "Crisis in White" in the 8/29/03 issue of USA Weekend, and "America's Nursing Crisis" in the10/7/03 issue of Woman's Day. For the most part all the articles are very good. Did anyone else see the "advice" offered in the Woman's Day article? In a box on top of page 46 it says... Have family members on hand in the room to make sure nurses are aware of your needs. DON'T HESITATE TO PESTER YOUR NURSE" [capitals mine]. "That ultimately helps the nurse, says Mary O'Neil Mundinger, Dr.P.H., R.N., of Columbia University School of Nursing. "If your needs aren't being met, your nurse can pass that on to ask for more resources." Does anyone know this person's e-mail address? Is she an instructor in a nursing program? Is she for real?!! As if we can "ask for more resources"!! I'm sure that just a little more "pestering" will help us!! It makes me want to SCREAM that some people(GP) reading this article will actually DO this. Pestering the nurses will, I'm sure push just a few more of us OUT OF NURSING. And as for "asking for more resources", we have been asking for years!! This highly educated RN needs to learn a few things!!!!!

In my parents phone book there is a listing for Jabloughmee, Haywood. Really, try looking it up in the Internet White Pages.

1,2. LPN 20 years RN 3 years 3. VA 4. Never 5. none 6. choose my own conventional shifts, but would like the option of being more creative(11A-7P) 7. My "supervisor" is a staffing coordinator! 8. Yes (agency),hospitals I work in- No. 9. Yes, once a year mandatory overview, skills check. I don't think they pay for outside classes. 10. Yes, but it's getting harder to like as time goes by 11. no 12. Unless there is a code or a fire, I'm going to lunch. one 10 min break 13. days, eves 14. did not work many (my option to or not) 15. For, but it will never happen in VA. 16. Yes 17. I hope you let us know the results!