Nursing Care of Ebola Afflicted Patients

Ebola Nursing Care

Nurses Waging War on Ebola from the Front Lines: 

Nurses are mounting the main caregiving response to the deadly virus in West Africa and in the United States, according to Sheila Davis, DNP, ANP-BC, FAAN, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellow (2012-2015). Nurses play a vital role in direct care for patients with Ebola, shaping health policy, and raising awareness about the deadly virus.The Ebola outbreak is shining an international spotlight on the critical but often unseen work of nursing in the United States and abroad, nurse leaders say.

In addition to providing direct care, nurses are also influencing national health policy, said Cole Edmonson, DNP, RN, FACHE, NEA-BC, an RWJF Executive Nurse Fellow (2012-2015) and chief nursing officer at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where Thomas Eric Duncan was treated for Ebola. In October, Duncan, a Liberian citizen, became the first person ever to die of Ebola in the United States, and two of his nurses contracted the disease while caring for him. “The nurses at Texas Health Dallas have helped shape the national care and personal protection guidelines and protocols related to Ebola and are now sharing their learnings,” Edmonson said.

Nurses are also helping to educate the public and reducing panic about Ebola and how it is transmitted. They are also speaking through the media to raise awareness and even some taking legal actions to make sure nurses and other healthcare providers rights are protected. 

Because there is no cure for Ebola, most of the care patients are getting is supportive care which is nursing care. 

"Nurses are doing the difficult and dangerous work of providing intravenous hydration and oral nutrition, managing diarrhea and nausea, cleaning and feeding patients, and monitoring their overall status" (NNU). Ebola care is, in short, nursing care, she said, adding: “Nurses are the ones who are providing the care in Ebola tents and who are wearing those space suits you see on TV.” 

Unhappy Nurses:

Nurses play a vital role in the Education, Treatment, and Prevention of Ebola but they are also in the direct line of fire. For some U.S. nurses the outbreak and possible inflow of Ebola patients causes outrage due to the lack of preparations for them and the risk to their own safety due to this.

This picture is from the National Nurses United webpage in the link below and explains why nurses are going on strike due to lack of Ebola preparations. 

http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/news/entry/us-nurses-plan-widespread-strike-over-lack-of-ebola-prep/

References:

1.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015, April 10).  Ebola Virus Disease. Retrieved April 15, 2015 from http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/706.htm#sthash.ONwAhsD4.dpuf

2.) Mayo Clinic (2014, August 6) Ebola Virus and Marburg Virus. Retrieved April 14, 2015 from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ebola-virus/basics/causes/con-20031241

3.) MedShare. (2014, July 1). Retrieved April 3, 2015, from http://www.medshare.org/donate/urgent-relief/ebola-basics

4.) National Nurses United. (2014, November 5). US Nurses Plan Widespread Strike Over Lack of Ebola Prep. Retrieved May 14, 2015 from http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/news/entry/us-nurses-plan-widespread-strike-over-lack-of-ebola-prep/

5.)  UpToDate (2014, October 27).  Ebola Virus Disease. Retrieved April 9, 2015, from http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1915432

6.)  WHO (2015, April) Ebola Virus Disease. Retrieved April 14, 2015 from http://www.uptodate.com/contents/epidemiology-and-pathogenesis-of-ebola-virus-disease