With so many questions still unanswered after a Dallas nurse, who treated Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, tested positive for the virus, nurses across the country are concerned over hospital preparedness.
While Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate the nurse was infected because of a “breach in protocol,” perhaps when taking off her personal protective equipment, many are cautioning the rush to judgement.
“Oftentimes the first reaction is to blame the nurse,” said Alice Johnson with the Illinois Nurses Association.
Meanwhile, several officials are questioning hospital protocols and training for handling Ebola.
In a recent survey by National Nurses United, more than three quarters of nurses surveyed questioned how prepared their hospitals were.
Out of more than 1,900 nurses in 46 states and Washington D.C. who responded, 76 percent said their hospital still hadn't handed them an official policy on admitting potential patients with Ebola, the survey found.
In Chicago, Resurrection and Rush University Medical Center have been designated by the CDC to handle any potential Ebola cases in the city. This gives them time to extensively train designated medical teams.
But experts say facts about Ebola are still emerging.
Northwestern Infectious Disease Expert Michael Angarone said recent studies about disease symptoms and transmission aren’t conclusive, because places live Western Africa lack the necessary scientific equipment.
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“They don’t have resources to check temperatures and blood pressure multiple times,” said Dr. Angarone. “If you’re not exposed to body fluids, the likelihood of getting infected is small, we’re still learning that.”
