Will you work during a Pandemic?

Xbox Live Addict · Oct 21, 2008

admin note: please note, we just added the poll to this thread (4-25-08), so please take a second and vote in the poll so we can get a graphical idea 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?

no ppe, no work.

if something like that even looked like it was going to happen, i would be making plans to be away long before quarantine was imposed... in australia or new zealand.

if things did get that bad, the government would have its hands full trying to quell massive civil unrest. i imagine martial law would be imposed.

being "noble" and "doing the right thing" will be of little comfort if my body is on a barge being towed out in the gulf of mexico to be dumped with hundreds of others.

FroggyMama · Oct 21, 2008

Gee, let me think, um NO!!!!!!!!

How can I say it any better than that? Not. a. chance. :no:

TopazLover, BSN, RN · Oct 21, 2008

I am fairly sure I would. It is my ethical decision, for me. I am fairly old and would not worry about too much. I am not trying to die, but I would rather die trying than sitting on the sidelines.

I believe we need to keep younger nurses able to pick up after so do not have any negative feelings towards people who are declining to work.

pielęgniarka, RN · Oct 21, 2008

The government orders all nurses to work and there's not adequate PPE? In that circumstance I would give up my nursing license forever. If I wanted a really dangerous job I would work in a really dangerous place. But I don't. My family is where my priorities are.

Farmer Jane · Oct 21, 2008

I don't have children and my answer is still no. My profession is to care for people, not die for them.

Laidback Al · Nov 13, 2008

Reference to HCW study in Maryland regarding working during a pandemic.

Another study out of Johns Hopkins found that nearly half of the public health employees in Maryland said they would stay away from work rather than risk exposing their families to the virus. Physicians and nurses were more likely to show up than support personnel. Clerical and some technical personnel were less likely to work, chiefly because of their perception of the value of their own roles.
Two-thirds of the public health workers in that study said their role is not important in combating a pandemic, and thus, they were less likely to show up.
The new study emphasizes that if essential workers fail to come through, the entire structure of any society will begin to unravel. And thus, the aftermath of the epidemic could claim more lives than the virus.. . .

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ColdandFlu/Story?id=6233508&page=1

GadgetRN71, ASN, RN · Nov 13, 2008

I don't have children and my answer is still no. My profession is to care for people, not die for them.

:yeah:Great post! Short and sweet..Gets my goat when people think just because someone doesn't have a family(a traditional one, anyway) that they should be willing to martyr themselves.

Just watched a program I got off of Itunes the other night. It was made by the National Geographic people.It showed just how fast this virus will spread. If the pandemic hits, no way the government will be ready. And we've all seen just how much the government and administrators care about those who will be on the front lines of this thing. :down:

I'll be home, taking care of my family and friends and anyone else in my neighborhood who may need help.

NeoNurseTX, RN · Nov 13, 2008

No PPE, no work, no thanks!

Jacksdad · Nov 14, 2008

Just watched a program I got off of Itunes the other night. It was made by the National Geographic people.It showed just how fast this virus will spread. If the pandemic hits, no way the government will be ready. And we've all seen just how much the government and administrators care about those who will be on the front lines of this thing. quote]
I don't know if they've revised their timelines since I read about it, but based on modern popuation densities and travel patterns, the US government has modeled a flu pandemic as going global in 21 days, while the UK government estimates 2-4 weeks from a first hypothetical patient appearing in Hong Kong to the virus arriving in Britain. Take into account that there will probably be time lost while tests are done on the first infected individuals and maybe some sort of news blackout to prevent panic until it becomes impossible to hide. All things considered, it seems we won't have a lot of forewarning before it appears in our neighborhoods.

azhiker96, BSN, RN · Nov 15, 2008

It's encouraging to see almost half of those polled would continue to work during a pandemic. Of course, with the health field working at half it's capacity, the government would be forced to decide who gets the limited resources available. I suppose first responders, police, military, healthcare, and infrastructure (water, power, etc) would get priority over the general population. The collapse of any one of those would lead to even greater losses. Imagine your home without electricity or water or sewer. It would quickly cease to be a refuge.

The patients who take up our typical day today would still appear; ob, emergency general surgeries, accident victims, etc. If the prognosis for pandemic flu is so dire, it would be better to treat those who are more likely to benefit from treatment. In other words, perhaps we wouldn't be treating flu victims in hospital settings. That would be a tough decision and I hope we never see it in our lifetime. But it's something I bet different governments around the world have considered in making their plans.

Laidback Al · Feb 13, 2009

Healthcare worker's attitudes to working during pandemic influenza: a

qualitative study

BMC Public Health 2009, 9:56 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-9-56

Abstract

Background

Healthcare workers (HCWs) will play a key role in any response to pandemic

influenza, and the UK healthcare system's ability to cope during an influenza

pandemic will depend, to a large extent, on the number of HCWs who are able and

willing to work through the crisis. UK emergency planning will be improved if

planners have a better understanding of the reasons UK HCWs may have for their

absenteeism, and what might motivate them to work during an influenza pandemic.

This paper reports the results of a qualitative study that explored UK HCWs' views

(n=64) about working during an influenza pandemic, in order to identify factors that

might influence their willingness and ability to work and to identify potential sources

of any perceived duty on HCWs to work.

Method

A qualitative study, using focus groups (n=9) and interviews (n=5).

Results

HCWs across a range of roles and grades tended to feel motivated by a sense of

obligation to work through an influenza pandemic. A number of significant barriers

that may prevent them from doing so were also identified. Perceived barriers to the

ability to work included being ill oneself, transport difficulties, and childcare

responsibilities. Perceived barriers to the willingness to work included: prioritising

the wellbeing of family members; a lack of trust in, and goodwill towards, the NHS; a

lack of information about the risks and what is expected of them during the crisis;

fear of litigation; and the feeling that employers do not take the needs of staff

seriously. Barriers to ability and barriers to willingness, however, are difficult to

separate out.

Conclusions

Although our participants tended to feel a general obligation to work during an

influenza pandemic, there are barriers to working, which, if generalisable, may

significantly reduce the NHS workforce during a pandemic. The barriers identified

are both barriers to willingness and to ability. This suggests that pandemic planning

needs to take into account the possibility that staff may be absent for reasons

beyond those currently anticipated in UK planning documents. In particular, staff

who are physically able to attend work may nonetheless be unwilling to do so.

Although there are some barriers that cannot be mitigated by employers (such as

illness, transport infrastructure etc.), there are a number of remedial steps that can

be taken to lesson the impact of others (providing accommodation, building

reciprocity, provision of information and guidance etc). We suggest that barriers to

working lie along an ability/willingness continuum, and that absenteeism may be

reduced by taking steps to prevent barriers to willingness becoming perceived

barriers to ability.

full article here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2458-9-56.pdf

Ayrman · Feb 13, 2009

Thanks for the article, Al. More food for thought, and it's not just here in the US that staffing may be a problem.

Ayrman

Will you work during a Pandemic?

Nurses, would you go to work during a Pandemic?