Will you work during a Pandemic?

[Goju]

admin note: we just added a poll to this thread today, april 25, 2008, please take a second and vote in the poll so we can have a graphical representation of the responses. thanks

scenario:

h5n1 (the bird flu) mutates to become efficient at transmitting human to human causing a pandemic, with a case fatality rate of 60% and with 80% of the cases in the 0-40 year old age range.

see:

http://www.wpro.who.int/nr/rdonlyres/fd4ac2fd-b7c8-4a13-a32c-6cf328a0c036/0/s4_1113.jpg

hospitals will be quickly overrun. hospital staff shortages are 50%. the government orders all nurses to work. there is not enough personal protection equipment (n95 masks, gloves, goggles, tamiflu, vax, etc)

home quarantines become common (in the fed plans).

your family is also quarantined in your home. you are running out of food and the government promises you will be "taken care of" if you report to work.

will you go?

[Jacksdad]

I honestly appalaud the people that would go in during a pandemic, but I think the question will be moot if this thing mutates to a human form with a high CFR. At present less than 3 out of 10 patients are surviving H5N1, even with Tamiflu and respirators. I believe that within a few weeks of a major pandemic (akin to, or worse than the Spanish Flu) hitting our shores, the healthcare system would be completely overwhelmed. Just as in 1918, and more recently with SARS, we're seeing most of the victims currently succumbing to high path avian flu dying as a result of cytokine storms leading to respiratory failure. First hand accounts by nurses and doctors during the Spanish flu outbreak talk of soldiers lined up in beds struggling to breathe before dying in their hundreds in makeshift hospitals in army camps around the US. If we see something on that scale again, how many desperately sick people turning up at a given facility could realistically be provided with respiratory support? Ten? Twenty? What if it was a hundred, or 500?

http://www.fluwikie.com/ has some excellent info for those who would like to get up to speed on H5N1 (they have a couple of excellent downloadable articles in their preparedness guides section by Grattan Woodson MD, and Dr. Dave that make very sobering reading).

If you take this threat seriously enough that you're debating whether to go to work to look after other people's family members during a pandemic, I think it makes complete sense to make sure that your family has a supply of the things they would need that might be in short supply like food, water, meds, toiletries, etc. Ask yourself this - if it happened today, how much food do you have in the house, and how long could you feed yourself? And if the power went out for a while, could you provide heat and light, or cook the food you've stored? With this virus continuing to spread around the world unabated, and mutating as it does, I think it's wise to adopt the philosophy that we should hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

[blue_yuina]

my dream is to go to a place where an epidemic is... weird? my friends say so, but I really feel that way... maybe because I am not married yet... and I don't have children to take care of... it's really hard to say my final words right now, so I choose YES...

:nurse:Student-Nurse at your service:nurse:

[RNperdiem, RN]

A likely scenario is that my family would all get the flu-probably brought home from school. Illness does not last forever. If I survive, I'm likely immune, and once recovered enough, I would probably go to work.

[indigo girl]

Illness does not last forever. If I survive, I'm likely immune, and once recovered enough,I would probably go to work.

True, if you survive, you might be immune, but there were people in the

1918 epidemic (another bird flu), who were infected more than once.

Also, we are seeing that survivors of H5N1 tend to be hospitalized for quite

some time unless they were lucky enough to be infected by a mild strain

like some of the little kids in southern Egypt. That would be unlikely though

because if we are seeing many deaths, it probably is not a mild strain.

Many of the recovered patients of 1918 also had severe sequelae that might

hinder the ability to return to the type of heavy nursing care that we are

talking about here. We are not machines. If you return to work too soon you

could relapse as we already know from our experience with other illnesses

including seasonal flu.

[FluMom]

Some nurses on other Fourms have stated that they have been and will be kept basically hostage at their posts.

Let's face it the Hospitals will not stock up on N95 masks or other protection so I have an idea.

People who volunteer to work during the pandemic would sign a contract to work during a pandemic and for that the Hospital will purchase a term insurance policy which will be paid to the family if the signer dies from the pandemic virus. If the signer dies from other causes the insurance money goes into a fund that pays for the insurance for this program.

You would sign a contract every year and could back out at signing date each year. Some may back out and insurance is terminated but for those who renew the insurance remains. Term insurance is cheap.

How you get the Hospitals to care about their employess and prepare for a pandemic I do not have a clue. You and your families must and should be protected. But you should not only get bigger pay during the pandemic but you should have life insurance to help your family should you die.

Just an idea. Hope some of you can take this to the right person at you place of employment and propose it.

[SoundofMusic]

No, I would not. I just couldn't even be helpful knowing my own young children were home alone without me. I wouldl be useless in such a situation, so it's best to go home. My kids are younger and will need me in such a situation. If I have to die, I'd rather be with them to go than separated from them. Sad, but I've thought about these things before.

[Perpetual Student]

Some nurses on other Fourms have stated that they have been and will be kept basically hostage at their posts.

Please elaborate. Do you mean physically held hostage, or held by a need to bring home pay?

[Laidback Al]

my dream is to go to a place where an epidemic is... weird? my friends say so, but I really feel that way... maybe because I am not married yet... and I don't have children to take care of... it's really hard to say my final words right now, so I choose YES...

:nurse:Student-Nurse at your service:nurse:

You are to be commended for your desire. People choose different professions for different reasons. If you want to be a nurse in an area with an epidemic, make sure you educate yourself, follow the protocols you have learned, and use proper PPE.

Remember though, volunteering for an epidemic is different than being drafted for a pandemic.

[Laidback Al]

Please elaborate. Do you mean physically held hostage, or held by a need to bring home pay?

I believe the short answer is yes. I am sure some of your colleagues will respond, but it is my understanding that some, perhaps many, hospitals and treatment facilities will go into some kind of lock down and the staff on duty at the time will not be allowed to leave.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Yes, we would be mandated to remain at my facility; and I hate to say it, if I do not know where my son or husband is, I WILL be sneaking out of the back door. I would not be useful to ANYONE not knowing if my only child, who has a social phobia, or my husband, who does everything he can each and every day to show me how devoted he is to us is in need. I would be resentful, making mistakes, and would not be focused. It would haunt me for the rest of my life to see my son, who would be too afraid to ask for help, or be a victim to some unscruplous people be abandoned. Is that the last memory I want my son to have of his mother? NO, NO, NO!! I want to hold him, embrace and protect him until the bitter end. We would be together as a family. What I would do, though, is, if I can get to him and my husband, the three of us would be there, and I would make darned sure that whatever is available to protect us is done and I'd teach him to turn patients right along with me. But, abandon them--no way.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I believe the short answer is yes. I am sure some of your colleagues will respond, but it is my understanding that some, perhaps many, hospitals and treatment facilities will go into some kind of lock down and the staff on duty at the time will not be allowed to leave.

I remember during the 9/11 attacks here in New York, we were mandated to stay at the job until we knew whether or not we would have to take victims. I live and work in Queens, and this happened in Manhattan, so, we were allowed, eventually to go home from our clinic. My son's high school was 5 blocks away from where I work, and the FIRST thing I did was run down there and got him. And, we stayed there TOGETHER. My husband works at my job, and he was on his way, so, I knew where they were and would not have it any other way.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I can commend anyone that is brave enough to go and face the demon if a pandemic were to ever take place. But, none of us, whether we plan to stay or go to our families should really be judged by anyone. Anyone can say what they would do at this moment while things are safe and there is no immediate harm. But, let this happen, and I would be real curious to see what people would really do. Some of us might be stuck, and can't leave, anyhow. Many would run to their own familes. I would rather hear the truth, that most of us would go take care of our own, than to claim they will remain, and are the first out of the door. I know that I would feel a tremendous amount of guilt for my co-workers, since some of them are like family to me. I would also feel horrible about the patients in need. But, I am being honest. I do not trust the government, and I will go to my family. If the powers that be will not provide for the medical personnel, then, they will do even less for our families.