Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Unions Want Better Safety Standards in Response to Ebola
This article is about how unions including the AFL-CIO want better national safety standards for workers who could be exposed to Ebola. Other unions have already said that hospitals are poorly equipped to handle Ebola and the president of the AFL-CIO has sent letters to Congress and the White House demanding that they take action to protect workers from Ebola.
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I think that hospitals and healthcare workers should be able to care for patients infected with Ebola safely. I believe the only two Americans that have contracted the disease had direct contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man, and we're not properly covered while in contact with him. Ebola is something that needs to be taken seriously but it is being blown out of proportion is the US
ReplyDeleteI think it's important that all health care workers receive the same, most effective "enforceable" guidelines on how to handle an Ebola patient. Regardless that the disease is rare in the U.S., it is still important to know what to do just in case. It is clear that the nurses who handled the Liberian Ebola patient weren't prepared, as two of them now have the disease. We should definitely calm down, seeing that it is not too big of an issue, but be prepared. Hospital workers admitting that they are poorly equipped to handle extreme cases is terrifying. Shouldn't they learn all this stuff in medical school?
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, it is understandable that many nurses would not be prepared to deal with Ebola. The virus was discovered in the 1970s and unlike HIV was seldom heard of in most of the western world.
ReplyDeleteWhile it might not be practical to get every single hospital prepared for Ebola cases, it is not at all a stretch to have some level of enforced standards even if not to the full extent. This in itself is fairly reasonable.
I agree with Jamie that Ebola is being blown far out of proportion to how it actually is.
I agree with Jamie that Ebola is blown out of proportion. But the virus is very scary and I understand that not everyone is well informed. However, I think that it is necessary for every nurse to receive proper training on how to take care of any virus, including Ebola. I agree with Maliki that it's not really practical to have EVERY hospital equipped, but then again who knows where the next Ebola victim will be? I feel like the panic of Ebola has calmed down a lot, now that it seems to be under control. It was pretty scary hearing about it but it's reassuring to hear that the CDC has come up with new safety guidelines for hospitals when treating an Ebola patient. Our chances of getting Ebola are very very low.
ReplyDeleteEbola is something that can be handled and is currently being handled in the US. Continuing with the thoughts of the group, the case of Ebola in the US is attracting more news than it should be. Yes there are two nurses that contracted the disease but that was probably because they were in direct contact with the patient and not properly equip and educated on the topic. The situation has obviously been looked at extensively and is being perfected. I think the US has the case more so under control and we know what we are doing. Education is the first step and the US seems to be taking care of that.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that Ebola is scary and should be something that we are informed about, especially health care officials. But it's something that's being blown completely out of proportion. We already have so many precautions put in place (which is good, yes) and patients with it strictly under house arrest, that I think everything will be OK. Yes, the original nurses were a little careless, but we've learned from that mistake and obviously will try not to make it again. The whole focus on Ebola in the news right now is a little stupid, to be honest. There are so many other things the media should be focusing more closely on.
ReplyDeleteI think we have made a lot of progress in how we are dealing with Ebola. For example, I think New York healthcare workers have been doing a very good job of dealing with Craig Spencer (a doctor who had been working in Guinea). While it is reasonable for the president of the Labor Union to ask for more funding to protect workers, any additional funding, if given at all, should be used tactfully. We cannot equip every hospital to deal with Ebola. That would be expensive and unnecessary. It would be much more reasonable to make sure that 1-2 hospitals in every state have the necessary equipment.
ReplyDeleteI can see why this is a concern for people who work in healthcare, as it is a risk to treat Ebola patients without proper safety measures. However, I agree with Schafer that is unreasonable to expect every hospital in the country to prepare for an epidemic of a disease that has been contracted by fewer than a dozen people and that has killed (I think?) 3 people. While I'm all for pro-activity and preparedness, I feel that other concerns should be the focus of the healthcare and education unions.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that standards for nurses are being improved so that Ebola can be handled more safely. The disease is new within the United States and not many medical workers are properly prepared or equipped to deal with the disease. Though the disease seems to be getting to much attention, it is better to be concerned than to not care about it at all. However, it does not need to be spoken about ad nauseam. I also agree with my peers that equipping every single hospital may be a bit unpractical. All nurses should be prepared to handle it at a moments notice, but maybe only certain hospitals should be prepared to handle for the long haul.
ReplyDeleteIf nurses are infected, we have the necessary medicine and protocol to keep them from spreading the disease and get them back to full health. However, these nurses should not be getting infected in the first place. The public is well protected against Ebola, but nurses who have to deal with the patients first hand do not seem to be protected very well. Ebola has been blown out of proportion, but it is definitely crucial to make sure that, like Schafer said, a few hospitals in each state are fully equipped to deal with the virus. We owe it to those brave nurses to keep them safe.
ReplyDeleteWhile Ebola may be blown out of proportion, it is still a very concerning disease that should not be taken lightly. If going out of our way to make specialized protocols is what it takes to save a couple of lives, it is overwhelmingly worth it. Not only would specialized protocol benefit our nurses, but people trying to deal with the disease in Africa can also adopt some of our methodology and be more equip to suppress the spread of Ebola.
ReplyDeleteI'm conflicted on the issue if standardized treatment and training for all nurses in regard to Ebola. On the one hand I agree with the premise that making treatment methods standardized and training all nurses too specifically treat Ebola could potentially save lives, but unfortunately this isn't actually practical.
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