CONTACTS
SUBJECTS
Ebola Health Care Lethal Virus Extreme Caution Vigorous Protective P
0603 -
0603 - ..
0604 - Summary/Objective
0605 -
060501 - Follow up ref SDS 3 0000, ref SDS 2 0000.
060502 -
060503 -
060504 -
060505 -
060507 - ..
0606 -
0607 -
0608 - Progress
0609 -
060901 - Article published today by Reuters explains that despite assurances by
060902 - CDC and other government health care officials in the Department of
060903 - Health and Human Services, care for patients even suspected of
060904 - presenting with highly infectious and fatal virus diseases, like
060905 - Ebola, ref SDS 0 0075, is very complicated and so requires extremely
060906 - vigorous protocols, including how to remove protective clothing, per
060907 - below. ref SDS 0 LV69
060909 - ..
060910 - The article concludes with the observation that hospitals need a
060911 - nursing "plan" on caring for anticipated rise of Ebola patients.
060912 - ref SDS 0 LV9M
060914 - ..
060915 - This sounds like a role Kathy might support, since everyone at Sutter
060916 - Medical Center knows she is the original "Lets make a 'Plan' nurse,
060917 - celebrated at her recent retirement, reported on 140925 1910,
060918 - ref SDS 2 FM6F
060920 - ..
060921 - Kathy might write a letter to the CEO noting rising concern about
060922 - developing protocols (i.e., plans) for nurses handling Ebola cases.
060923 - The hospital needs someone who can attend training and then work with
060924 - existing staff on applying the training to fit Sutter's existing
060925 - practices. This might at first focus on the maternity department, but
060926 - could expand. Kathy is a good candidate because of her reputation
060927 - for making a plan, she has credibility with the staff, they would
060928 - follow up leadership.
060930 - ..
060931 - The best place for hospitals to get people capable of developing
060932 - protocols and training support is from recently retired nurses,
060933 - especially with the economy now nearing full employment. This was
060934 - addressed in part in the recent article on nurses deferring
060935 - retirmenet, reported a few months ago on 140718 0438. ref SDS 1 YX5I
060937 - ..
060938 - Kathy may find this kind of work rewarding by applying her experience
060939 - and expertise with maternity nursing care, but without the burden of
060940 - holding up 40 pound legs.
060941 -
060943 - ..
060944 - Article published by Reuters...
060946 - ..
060947 - US nurses say they are unprepared to handle Ebola patients
060948 -
060949 - http://news.yahoo.com/u-nurses-unprepared-handle-ebola-patients-140327416.html
060951 - ..
060952 - By Julie Steenhuysen
060953 - October 3, 2014 10:03 AM
060954 -
060955 - 1. CHICAGO (Reuters) - Nurses, the frontline care providers in
060956 - U.S. hospitals, say they are untrained and unprepared to handle
060957 - patients arriving in their hospital emergency departments
060958 - infected with Ebola.
060960 - ..
060961 - 2. Many say they have gone to hospital managers, seeking training
060962 - on how to best care for patients and protect themselves and
060963 - their families from contracting the deadly disease, which has
060964 - so far killed at least 3,338 people in the deadliest outbreak
060965 - on record.
060967 - ..
060968 - 3. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
060969 - repeatedly said that U.S. hospitals are prepared to handle such
060970 - patients. Many infectious disease experts agree with that
060971 - assessment.
060973 - ..
060974 - 4. Dr Edward Goodman, an infectious disease doctor at Texas Health
060975 - Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas that is now caring for the
060976 - first Ebola patient to be diagnosed in this country, believed
060977 - his hospital was ready.
060979 - ..
060980 - 5. The hospital had completed Ebola training just before Thomas
060981 - Eric Duncan arrived in their emergency department on Sep 26.
060982 - But despite being told that Duncan had recently traveled from
060983 - Liberia, hospital staff failed to recognize the Ebola risk and
060984 - sent him home, where he spent another two days becoming sicker
060985 - and more infectious.
060987 - ..
060988 - 6. "The Texas case is a perfect example," said Micker Samios, a
060989 - triage nurse in the emergency department at Medstar Washington
060990 - Hospital Center, the largest hospital in the nation's capital.
060992 - ..
060993 - 7. "In addition to not being prepared, there was a flaw in
060994 - diagnostics as well as communication," Samios said.
060996 - ..
060997 - 8. Nurses argue that inadequate preparation could increase the
060998 - chances of spreading Ebola if hospital staff fail to recognize
060999 - a patient coming through their doors, or if personnel are not
061000 - informed about how to properly protect themselves.
061002 - ..
061003 - 9. At Medstar, the issue of Ebola training came up at the
061004 - bargaining table during contract negotiations.
061006 - ..
061007 - 10. "A lot of staff feel they aren't adequately trained," said
061008 - Samios, whose job is to greet patients in the emergency
061009 - department and do an initial assessment of their condition.
061011 - ..
061012 - 11. So Young Pak, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said it has been
061013 - rolling out training since July "in the Emergency Department
061014 - and elsewhere, and communicating regularly with physicians,
061015 - nurses and others throughout the hospital."
061017 - ..
061018 - 12. Samios said she and other members of the emergency department
061019 - staff were trained just last week on procedures to care for and
061020 - recognize an Ebola patient, but not everyone was present for
061021 - the training, and none of the other nursing or support staff
061022 - were trained.
061024 - ..
061025 - 13. "When an Ebola patient is admitted or goes to the intensive
061026 - care unit, those nurses, those tech service associates are not
061027 - trained," she said. "The X-ray tech who comes into the room to
061028 - do the portable chest X-ray is not trained. The transporter
061029 - who pushes the stretcher is not trained."
061031 - ..
061032 - 14. If an Ebola patient becomes sick while being transported, "How
061033 - do you clean the elevator?"
061035 - ..
061036 - 15. Nurses at hospitals across the country are asking similar
061037 - questions.
061039 - ..
061040 - 16. A survey by National Nurses United of some 400 nurses in more
061041 - than 200 hospitals in 25 states found that more than half (60
061042 - percent) said their hospital is not prepared to handle patients
061043 - with Ebola, and more than 80 percent said their hospital has
061044 - not communicated to them any policy regarding potential
061045 - admission of patients infected by Ebola.
061047 - ..
061048 - 17. Another 30 percent said their hospital has insufficient
061049 - supplies of eye protection and fluid-resistant gowns.
061051 - ..
061052 - 18. "If there are protocols in place, the nurses are not hearing
061053 - them and the nurses are the ones who are exposed," said RoseAnn
061054 - DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, which
061055 - serves as both a union and a professional association for U.S.
061056 - nurses.
061058 - ..
061059 - 19. Unlike influenza or the common cold, which can be spread by
061060 - coughing and sneezing, Ebola is only spread by contact with
061061 - bodily fluids from someone who is actively sick. That means
061062 - the risk to the average person is low, but for healthcare
061063 - workers, the risk is much higher.
061065 - ..
061066 - 20. As of Aug 25, more than 240 healthcare workers have developed
061067 - the disease in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, and
061068 - more than 120 have died, according to the World Health
061069 - Organization.
061071 - ..
061072 - 21. Many of these infections occurred when healthcare workers were
061073 - removing the personal protective gear - masks, gowns, gloves or
061074 - full hazmat suits used to care for the patients, said biosafety
061075 - experts.
061077 - ..
061078 - 22. Sean Kaufman, president of Behavioral-Based Improvement
061079 - Solutions, an Atlanta-based biosafety firm, helped coach nurses
061080 - at Emory University through the process of putting on and
061081 - taking off personal protective equipment (PPE) while they were
061082 - caring for two US aid workers flown to Atlanta after becoming
061083 - infected with Ebola in West Africa.
061085 - ..
061086 - 23. Kaufman became known as "Papa Smurf" to the Emory nurses
061087 - because of the blue hazmat suits he and others wore that
061088 - resembled the cartoon character.
061090 - ..
061091 - 24. "Our healthcare workforce goes through so many pairs of gloves
061092 - that they really don't focus on how they remove gloves. The
061093 - putting on and the taking off doesn't occur with enough
061094 - attention to protect themselves," he said.
061096 - ..
061097 - 25. Nurses say hospitals have not thought through the logistics of
061098 - caring for Ebola patients.
061100 - ..
061101 - 26. "People say they are ready, but then when you ask them what do
061102 - you actually have in place, nobody is really answering that,"
061103 - said Karen Higgins, a registered nurse at Boston Medical
061104 - Center.
061106 - ..
061107 - 27. Higgins, an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse, said hospital
061108 - officials have been teaching nurses on one of the regular
061109 - floors how to care for an Ebola patient.
061111 - ..
061112 - 28. "I said, well, that's great, but if the patient requires an
061113 - ICU, what is your plan," she said. "They looked at me blankly."
061114 -
061115 - 29. (Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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