Will you work during a Pandemic?

Nurses COVID

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  1. Nurses, would you go to work during a Pandemic?

    • 1926
      No
    • 5592
      Yes
    • 1288
      undecided

1,893 members have participated

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?

Specializes in Too many to list.

Have you all noticed that the number of nurses that are agreeing to work is now over 50% for the first time since the poll started?

I can only guess that this has to do with the current mildness of the swine flu thus far.

If it does not become more virulent, that percentage may continue to climb but what about if we start seeing more fatalities in young people that do not have pre-existing conditions? That will be a more challenging situation.

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Someone said earlier that it was no more dangerous to work (in a hospital, I'm assuming) during a pandemic than it was to go to the grocery store or the mall during a pandemic.

I have to respectfully disagree. In a pandemic, people's instinct is to stay home and isolate themselves so they can stay healthy. If they get very sick, or have sick family, and are unable to provide care at home, people will go to the clinic or hospital. This is okay at every other time except during the spread of a very infectious (many hundreds or thousands of people seeking help), and possibly virulent (many dying), virus in which there is currently no or minimal human immunity.

FYI, about PPE. I found this study by the CDC about homemade respirators. The article also describes exactly how to make a respirator, and explains why a homemade respirator could fail. It's not an N95, but apparently it can offer some protection if done right: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no06/05-1468.htm

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I lean with those who would go to work. I chose to work in this field. We are exposed - everyday to infections and microorganisms for which there are no vaccines. We are tested yearly for TB and inoculated for potential disease transmission and we are still asked to give blood tests to Hep C patients, play with needles, wrestle the insane - sometimes criminally insane. We chose this field - some of us obviously - to help people. To stay home because there is an illness that is particularly scary seems quite selfish.

This isn't the first flu that has claimed lives and it won't be the last. It's not the first virus that has proven itself difficult - if not impossible - to defeat. I'll be there doing my job to the best of my ability for as long as I can. Holing up in a neighborhood over run with children isn't going to be keep me safe from potential infection. May as well do my job and care for as many people as possible.

If you wanted a safe job you shouldn't have chosen healthcare!

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I would have to have my own PPE, which I already have now, plus I'd want to make sure my own family is as protected as they can be first. With those two things taken care of, yes I would continue to work, and would respond to a government call even though I'm somewhat mistrustful of our government and it's motives right now. It would be more to help the public than the government anyway.....

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Have you all noticed that the number of nurses that are agreeing to work is now over 50% for the first time since the poll started?

I can only guess that this has to do with the current mildness of the swine flu thus far.

If it does not become more virulent, that percentage may continue to climb but what about if we start seeing more fatalities in young people that do not have pre-existing conditions? That will be a more challenging situation.

The scenario presented in the original question clearly stated that the pandemic would have up to an 80% mortality rate in the 0 to 40 y.o. age range. Social order would break down and panic would be rampant. That's the scenario I responded to. The way I see it, nursing is somewhat like being in the military, a sort of emergency responder type of profession. People sign on knowing that they can be put in harm's way. You may never actually be called to risk your life, but the possibility exists. Yes, I'd continue working, making sure I'd provided as good of protection as I could for myself and my family.

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Specializes in Emergency Department, Rehabilitation.

I'm conflicted on this. I would want to go to work bc I'm a nurse and taking care of the sick is what we do. At the same time I don't trust the gov't to "take care of" anything. What does that even mean? I was in the military for 8 yrs and the watching the gov't take care of anything is like watching a monkey **** a football. It's funny to see but it's pretty much an exercise in futility.

No PPE equipment is a sure death sentence and I doubt I'm that altruistic to work myself into a grave while the gov't "takes care of things." Another poster made an interesting correlation to how they're screwing the rescue workers from the WTC on 9/11. Those people are heroes and now that they're sick and dying the gov't is ignoring their plight.

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My heart tells me that I would definately work during a Pandemic, Hello, I am a nurse! I care about people, sick, dying people!!! However, I had a kidney transplant 21 months ago and immunosuppressed, so I am unsure, but only because of this issue. I hope I don't have to find out, but if I do, I guess I will decide then. I think I would. I am a Christian, and I trust that the Lord would protect me, and if not, well I am going to die sometime anyway, why not helping another person?

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I think what I'll do, instead of sitting here staring out the window and trying to imagine what I would do, is be a bit more proactive about it. I've already got a good first aid kit at home, nothing says I couldn't lay in a few more boxes of gloves and masks for exactly this unknown. Perhaps some of you could do the same? Or even talk to your supervisors and ask if your place of work has stored extra PPE for the late summer/fall, in case H1N1 comes back and is very virulent. It seems like the best choice right now, not knowing what will happen or how people will react: to just be ready.

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I don't think I would do it only becuase of my one year child. I would not want to take a chance of infecting them. If I was single I would probably do it. It's funny when you have children your thinking totally changes.

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I think what I'll do, instead of sitting here staring out the window and trying to imagine what I would do, is be a bit more proactive about it. I've already got a good first aid kit at home, nothing says I couldn't lay in a few more boxes of gloves and masks for exactly this unknown. Perhaps some of you could do the same? Or even talk to your supervisors and ask if your place of work has stored extra PPE for the late summer/fall, in case H1N1 comes back and is very virulent. It seems like the best choice right now, not knowing what will happen or how people will react: to just be ready.

That's what I've done already - I have a supply of NIOSH N95 respirator masks at home, boxes of latex gloves and a portable water filter that filters down to 1 micron. We also have emergency things at home like candles and flashlights, and we buy RO water in 5 gallon jugs from the local water store. I haven't started stockpiling dehydrated food yet, but I'm considering doing that too. If something like this really does happen, your family is going to be confined to their home for quite a while, and you aren't going to be able to run to the corner store for a lot of these things. You may never need any of this stuff, but you're right, it pays to be ready just in case.

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I have a family of 5 that depends on me. Should I work during a pandemic and sicken and/or die, it would be a great burden on my family. My family is my first priority. I put them above all else. I work bad schedules, bad hours, holidays, weekends....all in an effort to provide for my family. For those nurses that feel this way about their patients, I think they are very special. I can do this for my family and maybe at some point I'll self actuallize and be able to treat others as if they are my family. When I care for my patients, I keep that in my. I give excellent care, but I'm not willing to die for my patients. It is enough that I risk my life and limb daily treating pt's with HIV, Hep C, Violent Psych pts, and gang bangers that bring violence into the hospitals.

But maybe it will take a pandemic for people to realize how important nurses are in the health care system. I think we are probably the most numerous of any class of health care workers but we seem to be treated like waitresses most of the time. And our pay when compaired to many non degreed professions - wow. My plumber makes twice an hour what I make, my mechanic, three times. Now I can do a little pumbing but I can't fix a car. However, they certainly can't do what I can do. And if they mess up? What really is the worse that can happen?

Your toilet doesn't flush? You car will not run? But the worst that I can do? It is called a Sentinal Event. Loss of life or lives.

Well, that is it. Family first. The rest was just a rant I guess. My arguement may not be the soundest there is, but for me, it is all about, and all for family. I brought RSV home to my newborns once, now I undress & shower in our garage bath before I enter my home. Never again.

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That's what I've done already - I have a supply of NIOSH N95 respirator masks at home, boxes of latex gloves and a portable water filter that filters down to 1 micron. We also have emergency things at home like candles and flashlights, and we buy RO water in 5 gallon jugs from the local water store. I haven't started stockpiling dehydrated food yet, but I'm considering doing that too. If something like this really does happen, your family is going to be confined to their home for quite a while, and you aren't going to be able to run to the corner store for a lot of these things. You may never need any of this stuff, but you're right, it pays to be ready just in case.

Too true: It isn't just with the PPE, but also with the food and water. This goes doubly for home, obviously, because obviously in a very severe pandemic (like the one described in the OP), people will be staying home and hospitals will be full and some may even be closed.

I don't want to hijack this thread - perhaps someone could make a thread about nursing at home during a pandemic, to discuss ideas - but I've learned from experience after being in one too many disasters that being prepared pays off. (And as I'm going into nursing, I'm starting to learn what that means with a new perspective.)

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