I know this whole recent news story in Maine about the nurse
who has been fighting quarantine has brought out a lot of criticism of
her. Actually that's putting it
lightly. I've seen some of the most
horrific, rude, and hateful statements on social media against this woman. She’s been bashed by fellow nurses, although
I have seen some voice of reason in the postings as well. I truly believe that social media brings out
the worst in people who can hide anonymously behind their statements, and call people
names like “idiot” and worse, without having to debate an issue in an
intelligent manner.
My personal opinion is people really didn't like to see a
woman, and a nurse, be so verbally adamant and outspoken about the issue, added
in with the fact that we don’t think we fully understand Ebola. I think she's someone who is willing to put
herself on the line (because she's certainly been vilified) to make a statement
and to point out the problems with mandatory quarantine. People keep saying, "what's the big
deal, it's 21 days, deal with it."
The big deal is that it sends the wrong message about how Ebola is
spread and how we should be dealing with it.
The American Nursing Association (the professional nursing organization
in the US) has put out a statement in support of Kaci Hickox and the current CDC
guidelines, which she is following, and has been willing to follow. She simply did not believe a state-imposed
quarantine is the right answer.
I’ve been truly horrified at how nurses have been portrayed
in the recent events surrounding the Ebola crisis. Nurses are people like everyone else, and
none of us are perfect. And just like
every profession, there are some nurses who are better than others. There are those who strive for excellence,
and there are those who just want to get through the day. But I believe at least 90% are in the first
category! You don’t go into nursing to
make money (it’s a comfortable living, but you’ll never be wealthy). Nurses work incredibly hard to earn that
money too. There’s very few professions
where a hard day at the office means you lost a life. Working with very sick patients, exposing
yourself EVERY DAY to illness, blood, urine, feces, vomit, and sometimes deep
sadness, it’s not a job for everyone.
Nurses choose their profession based on an affinity for science, and a
passion to help others.
Why would anyone think that a nurse who volunteered her time
and energies to go work with the sickest, most infectious patients in the world
right now, in a third world country, where there aren’t clean shiny hospitals
with every piece of equipment you need at your fingertips, but makeshift tents
in the heat of the African sun, would really be a person who just “wants 15
minutes of fame” or is “looking for money.”
I can’t even fathom someone having those two aspects to their
personality. What I can understand is
a nurse who is not only passionate about her work and her patients, but also
her belief in science and the proper approach to a disease that she knows
better than 99.9% of those of us who sit back and judge her, based on the
little that we have learned over the last 4 weeks.
Nurses are my heroes.
They do things every day that go the extra mile to help their patients,
to comfort the families, to ensure their safety. No, hospitals are not perfect. Doctors are
not, and nurses are not. But guess
what? We’re on the front lines in ANY epidemic. To me, when the two nurses in Texas became
ill after caring for the man from Africa, it was quite concerning, because I
thought in America we would be fully protected. It became clear we have much to learn and to
prepare for in case of having such a patient.
The mistakes made in Texas could have been made anywhere, because very
few hospitals were really ready. Ebola
was a distant possibility, not a reality that would walk into the ER. Now we know differently and are working to be
prepared. But the truth is, without
constant preparation and training, any staff in the US would be challenged to care
for such a patient. The best plan would
be quick recognition and transfer to a center that trains all the time and
understands the protocols intimately.
I’m not scared of Ebola.
There have been less than 10 cases treated here, and only 2 that were
contracted here: the two nurses who cared for Duncan when he was at his very
sickest. The fact that his own family
did not develop the disease, should put everyone who is freaked out about being
on a subway, plane, or in a bowling alley with a potentially infected person, at
ease. I’m more scared that people are
not vaccinating their children and horrific communicable diseases that we
thought we had eradicated are coming back like pertussis, measles and
mumps. The recent outbreak of
Enterovirus in children that has made them so sick is much more of a threat
right now. The flu season is coming and
I know many people have not bothered to get a vaccine because they either think
they won’t get the flu, or they think it gives them the flu. And yet the flu kills thousands of people per
year. But we don’t quarantine people
with the flu.
This is all a long-winded way of saying that I hope people
can put this in perspective, and try to understand the distinctions between
isolating someone who is sick (right thing to do) and someone who may have been
exposed. And the operative word is
MAY. Most healthcare workers who have
been overseas do NOT become sick. The
CDC guidelines do stratify overseas workers into a different category than
healthcare workers in this country who may work with one or two patients. I think their guidelines make sense and are
reasonable, and will keep people safe.
Under those guidelines, Kaci Hickox falls into the "Some Risk" category (NOT High Risk) and would be directly monitored (meaning
someone is checking in on her daily) so that if she develops a fever at all, it
would be immediately detected and she would be isolated. That makes sense and that’s what she’s been
fighting for. http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/exposure/monitoring-and-movement-of-persons-with-exposure.html#table-monitoring-movement
I admire her. I think people who stand up for what they believe is right, and put themselves out on a ledge that most of us never will, because of the fear of being attacked by the masses, are pretty amazing people Because that’s not selfish. That’s bravery.
I admire her. I think people who stand up for what they believe is right, and put themselves out on a ledge that most of us never will, because of the fear of being attacked by the masses, are pretty amazing people Because that’s not selfish. That’s bravery.
