Support Kaci Hickox

[nurse2033]

She is the nurse who returned from Africa and was placed in quarantine despite not being sick. I'm not going to give all the details here, they are readily available online. I support her position and hope you do too. She is not sick, she should not be quarentined.

[RichZebro]

A nurse who refuses to cooporate with medical authorities should have her license revoked.

[toomuchbaloney]

A nurse who refuses to cooporate with medical authorities should have her license revoked.

Bull Feces.

She has broken no law.

She has endangered no one.

She does not meet ANY of the medical or scientific criteria for isolation/quarantine.

I think that nurses who react out of fear rather than sound science and evidenced based practice should lose their license.

[AdamantiteEnigma]

You find it "disturbing" that other professionals may have a different opinion than you???

I find THAT more than a little disturbing...

No, actually. I find it more than a little disturbing so many of my colleagues are developing their difference of opinion from a healthy dose of hysteria. And not based on baseline critical thinking skills. Nor reliance on science, or evidenced based practice.

[BlueDevil, DNP]

Well we could argue that philosophically, because I don't entirely agree with the premise. However, in this case that argument doesn't apply apply, since Kaci Hickox was and is complying with the recommendations of "medical authorities," all of whom have agreed that there is no reason for quarantine or restrictions beyond self monitoring. A policy, mind you, that has been effective for over 40 years.

Now, if you want to debate whether as mere nurses we are bound to "obey" other so called medical professionals, let's start a new thread.

[toomuchbaloney]

Well we could argue that philosophically, because I don't entirely agree with the premise. However, in this case that argument doesn't apply apply, since Kaci Hickox was and is complying with the recommendations of "medical authorities," all of whom have agreed that there is no reason for quarantine or restrictions beyond self monitoring. A policy, mind you, that has been effective for over 40 years.

Now, if you want to debate whether as mere nurses we are bound to "obey" other so called medical professionals, let's start a new thread.

Not only are nurses not required by their license to "obey" other so called medical professionals, nurses are trained to question things which are not evidence or scientifically based.

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

A nurse who refuses to cooporate with medical authorities should have her license revoked.

Her quarantine was invoked by the state of New Jersey, hardly a medical authority. This is the entire point. She does not meet the medical criteria for quarantine, because she IS NOT SICK. You must balance the harm done by imposing quarantine on everyone who sets foot in West Africa. People will stop going to Africa to help, and people will lie about being there. Both of these behaviors will do far more damage to the public good.

[AmyRN303, BSN, RN]

Not only are nurses not required by their license to "obey" other so called medical professionals, nurses are trained to question things which are not evidence or scientifically based.

I literally (yes, literally, not figuratively) clapped when I read this.

[wirehead]

Speaking only for myself, I don't find it disturbing that "other professionals may have a different opinion than (me)," but I do find it disturbing that so many "professionals" on the Ebola-related threads (including the poll on this thread) on this site appear to be responding and reacting out of fear rather than science.

Good point elkpark, I see a lot of people including myself getting slammed for a difference of opinion. It is paramount that we remember that healthy debate is good, and can get great things accomplished. One thing I will say about those completely relying on science and evidenced based practice, keep in mind science evolves as does ebp.

[md777]

Many against the quarantine are saying to look at the science. OK, let's do. Dr. Bruce Beutner, a Nobel prize-winning physician and medical researcher, currently the Director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas supports the quarantine. He won the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology in 2011 for his work researching the cellular subsystem of the body’s overall immune system — the part of it that defends the body from infection by other organisms, like Ebola, so he ought to know what he is talking about. He says, “It may not be absolutely true that those without symptoms can’t transmit the disease, because we don’t have the numbers to back that up,” said Beutler, “It could be people develop significant viremia [where viruses enter the bloodstream and gain access to the rest of the body], and become able to transmit the disease before they have a fever, even. People may have said that without symptoms you can’t transmit Ebola. I’m not sure about that being 100 percent true. There’s a lot of variation with viruses.” This article further states, "In fact, in a study published online in late September by the New England Journal of Medicine and backed by the World Health Organization, 3,343 confirmed and 667 probable cases of Ebola were analyzed, and nearly 13 percent of the time, those infected with Ebola exhibited no fever at all." Beutner further states, "The thought of an afebrile parent passing Ebola on to a child – as ostensibly can happen 13 percent of the time, “would disturb me. The point of quarantine of is to make sure they [Ebola viruses] are not carried elsewhere. It’s a little bit frustrating. Some of the things that are being done are not completely motivated by safety. For some reason, there’s an imperative to maintain open borders no matter what – to err on the side of total individual freedom rather than on the side of public health,” he said, adding, “If you really want to isolate a disease, then you have to isolate the people who carry it.” To read the entire article go to . Christie's controversial Ebola quarantine now embraced by Nobel Prize-winning doctor | NJ.com

Until the time period for the incubation period is up, no one knows if Kaci has Ebola or not. This is a serious disease. If we err anywhere, we need to err on the side of caution.

[md777]

Many nurses are saying to "look at the science." Here's some more science. In the following article by the WHO, they say the incubation period for Ebola is 21 days, but then they admit that for 3% of Ebola cases, the incubation period was up to 42 days. For that reason, the WHO does not declare a country to be Ebola free until there have been no new cases for 42 days. See the article by the WHO at WHO | Are the Ebola outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal over?

So, Kaci could have Ebola and not develop symptoms for up to 42 days.

[md777]

Here's some more science. The Ebola virus can survive on a surface for quite a while. This fact alone shows that we need to be very cautious with Ebola and err on the side of caution. Here's the article: The survival of filoviruses in liquids, on solid substrates and in a dynamic aerosol - Piercy - 2010 - Journal of Applied Microbiology - Wiley Online Library

[md777]

According to the following New England Journal of Medicine article, 89% of patients with Ebola presented with a fever; this means that 11% do not. This also means that health care workers returning from Africa after taking care of Ebola patients and having them self-monitor by taking their temp twice a day is not 100% effective. We need to err on the side of caution with this serious illness in order to prevent its spread. After reviewing the science, I think anyone who comes in contact with someone with Ebola needs to be quarantined for the full incubation period in order to prevent the spread of this disease. Here's the article: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1411680#t=article