US Nurses: We Can't Handle Ebola!

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
Quitting might be what a lot of people would do, and who could blame them if they are unprepared and unprotected? As we found out in August with the Emory patients, there are very few hospitals that are equipped to handle BSL4.

And the crazyiness we're seeing now with lowering standards for disposal of waste is just...well I'm speechless.

I was talking to a paramedic friend of mine last night and another who is a nurse, and they both said they would definitely quit. To be honestm I would too. I think most people would, even though we'd all love to be heroes and heroic like in the movies, and even though we already know from past challenges that horrific circumstances can bring out the best in some, it might not be enough, and life isn't really like the movies. Very few people have the fortitude.

Sigh....

a reply to: Battleline

Yep. Just like they took seemingly forever to ground flights on 9/11. Makes ya wonder all the more.

They just can't seem to get out of their own way. Those people in DC have NO clue and like I said, they're not going to provide hospital personnel with those fancy suits. Let alone paramedics, ancillary staff, etc!

I tried to find out about that special unit at Emory...couldn't find much about it online. I am curious about it though and what makes it different from other isolation/negative pressure type rooms.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Be prepared to be threatened and coerced into working if it spreads in the US like it has in Africa.

You will targeted for public ridicule and humiliation, called all sorts of names, have your license taken away, everything the government can think of to get you to work.

I hope I am wrong, but that is what the US government (liberals/progressives/socialists) do to people who do things they don't like. Destroy their lives through any means possible.

So as a nurse or any health care worker, you must realize it might come to choosing between any hope of a future health care career, or your family. If it were me, no choice hands down, my family, regardless of what is done to me.

a reply to: Stormdancer777

Sorry, this one has really got me out there.

Thanks for the listen dancer.

a reply to: lovebeck

Two threads from July/August...long but lots of good information.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: grandmakdw

Why, because of liberal/progressive thinking and pressure from the Democrat party to give it all away and not save any for our own people.

The politically correct crowd refused to stop people from infected countries coming to the US.

Why, they are predominately black and it would be a form of "racism" according to the liberals/progressives/socialist/Democrats.

WAIT. Wait. Wait, gma. What are you talking about?????

Why do you think that Democrats want to depopulate the world? That's just silly.
I don't want infected people to come here either. But this post of yours is truly political baiting.

a reply to: grandmakdw

Lol I've been a nurse for 8 years and I've been fed up and ready to quit for several now!!' Hell I wish my hospital would start laying us off en masse is be first in line!!!! If we get even one Ebola patient I'll kiss my pathetic nursing career goodbye and burn my license in a celebratory bond fire!!! The US healthcare system is completely broken!!!! Nursing is nothing but a punching bag profession and it's sad because I'm exactly the type of RN the profession needs. Now I know why there are still so few males in the profession. Just dealing with the insane female managers would make you go postal!!!

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
a reply to: grandmakdw

Why, because of liberal/progressive thinking and pressure from the Democrat party to give it all away and not save any for our own people.

The politically correct crowd refused to stop people from infected countries coming to the US.

Why, they are predominately black and it would be a form of "racism" according to the liberals/progressives/socialist/Democrats.

WAIT. Wait. Wait, gma. What are you talking about?????

Why do you think that Democrats want to depopulate the world? That's just silly.
I don't want infected people to come here either. But this post of yours is truly political baiting.

I don't think it is. I've been hearing people on TV as well as the radio pondering this very thing.

I'm not trying to politically bait, just repeating what I've been hearing, and I have to admit, it makes sense considering all the ridiculous bungling of the handling of Ebola and the mystery illness. The bungling is so awful by the government, it almost does look like it is on purpose.

Don't tell me that the libs aren't salivating over the Georgia Guidestone, which sets the ideal world population at 500,000. That has been practically a sacred guide for environmentalists who are a huge part of the liberal/progressive movement for a long time.

And you know what, I don't blame nurses and health care workers for not wanting to take Ebola home to their families, even with the best of precautions, and they will be ridiculed and hounded and shunned and lose licenses over taking a stand if it comes to that.

This is seriously not a time to be partisan. Just saying. If anything that will be exactly what sabotages the efforts should this thing go big. And that might have been part of the play all along too.

a reply to: grandmakdw

I'd take one for the team in a Chernobyl type scenario that is a major unpredictable catastrophe but this Ebola crap has been known to be spreading for months now and our gov still sat on their effing hands! Ridicule away I say!!!!! Am I going to ridicule every other profession that's going to be exposed to this outbreak as well??? It's going to affect EVERYONE!!!

One thing that was tried during the SARS outbreak was to consolidate the ill rather than spread them out to several hospitals. It seemed to make sense for a little while until another hospital had an outbreak of their own. I wonder if there has been public health discussion on this point?

originally posted by: aboutface
One thing that was tried during the SATS outbreak was to consolidate the ill rather than spread them out to several hospitals. It seemed to make sense for a little while until another hospital had an outbreak of their own. I wonder if there has been public health discussion on this point?

The military and NG needs to be readied right now!!! There is no point in having patients randomly show up at hospitals. Every hospital should now have special isolation triage tents set up NOW!!!! STAT! Not tomorrow, not next week! Put people to work, start training people NOW!!'

a reply to: GreenMtnBoys

It's screaming for good leadership at the top public health level. Not PR people, but leaders who can direct sound coordination policies. I hope they are not too proud to consult those who have valuable experience to offer from the lessons they've learned.

originally posted by: aboutface
a reply to: GreenMtnBoys

It's screaming for good leadership at the top public health level. Not PR people, but leaders who can direct sound coordination policies. I hope they are not too proud to consult those who have valuable experience to offer from the lessons they've learned.

i think that they need a good "British",, Sgt. Mgr. Loadmaster. type of personality,,cause it situation normal at the moment,,
snafu ed so too speak,,
at every level,,,

As far as the Nurse's go,, THEY DID have it Check Marked,, so i guess it was IT's fault,,,if i remember correctlly the explanation the Attending Dr. used was ""IT DIDN'T POP UP".


OK,,,popped up now.

I don't think it is. I've been hearing people on TV as well as the radio pondering this very thing.

I'm not trying to politically bait, just repeating what I've been hearing, and I have to admit, it makes sense considering all the ridiculous bungling of the handling of Ebola and the mystery illness. The bungling is so awful by the government, it almost does look like it is on purpose.

Don't tell me that the libs aren't salivating over the Georgia Guidestone, which sets the ideal world population at 500,000. That has been practically a sacred guide for environmentalists who are a huge part of the liberal/progressive movement for a long time.

Yeah, it's not like there's utterly no Republicans or Conservatives in any of the CDC or Homeland Security, or Congress, or the military, for that matter...

Stop listening to 'those' radio shows. They drum up fear and hatred and then claim they're only for 'entertainment' purposes whenever they're called on their lies.

And the Georgia Guidestones have been a 'practical guide for the environmentalists'....???? WTH are you talking about? Do you have the capacity to understand that 'leave room for nature' is meant for everyone's protection, including the human race? Do you understand that unlimited population is a time bomb, and it's probably exploding right now, since the population density of cities is what allows pandemics to spread out of control...?

Read the book that came out a few weeks ago, written by R. C. Christian himself, explaining the Guidestones. They're meant as a Rosetta Stone for future generations, not a eugenics project.

Sorry for the threadjack, OP, but jeeeeze.

a reply to: lovebeck

I just love this thread, will be back tomorrow!

originally posted by: GreenMtnBoys

originally posted by: aboutface
One thing that was tried during the SATS outbreak was to consolidate the ill rather than spread them out to several hospitals. It seemed to make sense for a little while until another hospital had an outbreak of their own. I wonder if there has been public health discussion on this point?

The military and NG needs to be readied right now!!! There is no point in having patients randomly show up at hospitals. Every hospital should now have special isolation triage tents set up NOW!!!! STAT! Not tomorrow, not next week! Put people to work, start training people NOW!!'

Give this man a cigar you should be leading this cause with ideas like that. I have been saying the same thing. People think the government is trying to make this spread.........They are all idiots trying to pass blame. This is the real problem people for the most part are stupid.



Good leadership is not about doing it all and making all the decisions it is about picking the smartest people you can find and than trusting them. Governments and health care is just like anything else 90% of the people are stupid and should not make decisions.

You guys are starting to panic - when people panic, they don't make the best possible decisions. If our healthcare system also decides to panic instead of calmly assess the situation, the result will probably be worse.

I was reading a study earlier that expressed how quarantining Ebola in parts of Africa actually made the disease spread more. What we need is more training so that people are confident and know what they are doing. Right now it seems like everyone is ready to run and quit their jobs if someone comes in with the flu, and it's flu season.

You have to be able to tell Ebola and the Flu apart for starters and that isn't going to happen by quitting jobs, that's going to happen by being trained. And the training should also cover precautions to take and there should be safety measures put in place. Panickingg will only cause people to make poor decisions and facilitate spreading.

a reply to: darkbake

when people panic, they don't make the best possible decisions.

I agree with your statement. So... the authorities in charge must be in panic mode? Because they definitely have not made the best possible decisions from the get-go!

OP, I totally get where you are coming from. Nurses = front lines. Front lines without a plan; without proper protection. Like sending someone into a sword fight with no sword and no shield. Crazy!

Others near the front lines are teachers in those schools where the exposed children continued to show up for days after exposure. What must it be like to have a kid who just hugged you come down with a fever later in the day? It happens, only now there is a great big question mark, wondering if risk to your very life involved.

Further back from the front lines of exposure, is the average public going shopping, pumping gas, opening the door to a restaurant, where lingering particles of Ebola virus may lay in wait to attach to unsuspecting citizens who are so far removed from patient 0, they would be caught totally unaware.

I would like to know if all of the hospital personnel exposed to patient 0 on his FIRST (failed) trip to the hospital are at home checking their temps, or are they still at work? (The receptionist at intake, the nurse(s) and doctor(s.)

I suspect a LOT of folks in the medical field share the same sentiment as the OP. We say the healthcare system is 'broken' but we may see it completely unravel if the CDC doesn't step up and actually DO things that inspire confidence (like get equipment and procedures in place nationwide.)

I don't blame you at all. I would feel the same and I can tell you that at least one nurse in Dallas has already quit.
I got a call from a retired colleague last night asking me to let some folks into the house he owns in our community so they can prepare it for his family's return. He's a retired medical professional who worked for years in the public health field. He knows what a good emergency/disaster plan looks like and how it is implemented.
His daughter is an ICU nurse. Friday morning the entire family had a long talk and made the decision to leave the Dallas area and come back to their home here.
My friend and his wife have been living there with the daughter and grandchildren to help with the kids since their son-in-law passed away about three years ago. But after seeing the response of the public health system there to this case and the bungling approach being used, they've decided to come back to our remote little village. The pay won't be as much as she was making in Dallas but when the health of your children could be at stake---his words were, "We'd rather be safe than sorry." He knows the local public health system and he knows there are plans in place for just such a contagious disease outbreak and while our facilities might not be as up-to-date as those in Dallas, the people running the show don't have degrees in marketing/public relations. They actually know their stuff and will have the backbone to protect the community.

reply to: lovebeck


As a healthcare worker I also share your feelings. I work for a private EMS agency and so far I'm not to comfortable with the list of protocols and protection methods giving to us. We are to wear fluid shield masks, safety googles, gloves, scrubs, and shoe covers...and we are supposed to drap the floor, walls, and ceiling in paper sheets... one could argue thats enough and I'm sure some will...but I dont want Ebola... and being placed in the back of a ambulance with a patient with ebola is to unsettling for me. All it would take is for that patient to vomit on you..which vomitting is a symptom.