<p>“If nurses are refusing to care for a patient, you have to hope you have good ones stepping up to help”</p>
<p>If nurses are refusing to care for a patient, that doesn’t mean they are bad nurses. It probably means that they do not feel comfortable that they have been trained well enough to handle this, or that they do not trust they will be adequately protected.</p>
<p>Seeing as all the people in this country who have been treated immediately upon suspecting they have Ebola have survived, it makes sense that these nurses are at far less risk than the ones who treated Duncan. If Dr. Spencer’s health follows what’s happened to the others, he should never get to the end stage of the illness where the bodily fluids are highly infectious. It makes sense to me that someone who is treating a person in that more highly infectious stage should be quarantined (particularly those who have worked with those patients in Africa, with less protection), as opposed to making the nurses who care for Dr. Spencer be quarantined. Unless he gets further along in the disease, at least based upon the other cases.</p>
<p>If nurses are refusing to care for a patient, you absolutely hope that the ones who are stepping up are good ones. That is what I meant by that sentence. Nothing more.</p>
I’m not a nurse, but how can they not be “bad nurses” if they are calling in sick and are too terrified to even go to the hospital? When you become a nurse, you must realize that you will be dealing with sick people and could get sick yourself. If they are concerned about training and protection why are they not going to the administration and insisting on more help rather than calling in sick? Personally, I think it’s pathetic.</p>
<p>sylvan, I don’t think it has been verified that was correct. My point was in addressing if someone did not want to care for an Ebola patient and why they could have legitimate concerns if they felt they weren’t adequately trained and protected. If so, they should make that clear to the administration.</p>
<p>My guess is that it’s the more the dying part that scares them.</p>
<p>It’s pretty rare, AFAIK, that nurses actually get sick from treating patients, much less die from treating them. That’s because most illnesses have been around long enough that the safety protocols are well established. Not so with ebola. This is new, and requires new protections. Protocols are still being worked out as we go. I can’t say I blame any nurse for not wanting to go into a situation where even the experts are still learning what’s safe.</p>
<p>"Andrew Cuomo, …voluntary quarantine is an oxymorom… "</p>
<p>Yes, except that it was Illinois which had the voluntary quarantine, not NY. </p>
<p>From your link:</p>
<p>“The order will be implemented by local health departments throughout Illinois. Previously, high-risk people were subject to a voluntary quarantine, according to the governor’s office.”</p>
<p>Oh, I’m sure it will discourage them. The public health officials I’ve heard are uniformly appalled for exactly that reason. These HCW give up a couple months of their lives, risking death, in a heroic attempt to save the rest of the world. And then we’re going to tell them we’re going to lock them up upon their return? Even though there is NO evidence that they are a risk to anyone, as long as they follow the protocols? Some portion of them are going to say “No thanks.” And there are already far too few of them.</p>
<p>Just heard dr spencer has been downgraded, hopefully it’s temporary. Honestly no disrespect to the NY hospital, but I would beg for a transfer to atl, md or neb</p>
<p>Oh no, partyof5. Thats unfortunate. Was he rated good and now fair, or what?</p>
<p>His fiancee was released from the hospital where she had been observed, and is quarantining at their apt on W 157th st. is what is called the Hamilton Heights area. IS this correct, oldmom?</p>
<p>@jym626 it was announced on cnn about an hour ago, but it’s nowhere on the website. I just remember them saying downgraded, I can’t remember the actual status. </p>
<p>I was curious so I googled ‘Nurses calling in sick at Bellevue’ and all that comes up are the NY Post article and a whole mess of blog-o-sphere sites repeating the NY Post story. </p>
<p>The only other thing that came up was this article in the Daily Mail (which is, imo, not much better than the NYPost.) Again citing the Post story but adding this:</p>
<p>“hospital spokesman Ana Marengo has now denied there was any sickout, saying that nurses are willing treating Dr Spencer in pairs, ‘with one serving as a buddy watching the other’.”</p>