Dive Brief:
- In a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, National Nurses United (NNU) executive director RoseAnn DeMoro said that widespread concerns over insufficient Ebola response training and a lack of clearly established protocols could force her group to take "pretty dramatic action for nurses across the country," including "possible pickets at hospitals."
- Two nurses at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, tested positive for Ebola after treating Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient diagnosed with Ebola within the United States. Pham is reportedly in "good condition" and Vinson has been transferred to the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA, which has successfully cured two Ebola patients and is on its way to curing a third.
- Dallas Morning News's Dianna Hunt reports that health workers at the Dallas hospital didn't wear adequate protective gear for two days while caring for Duncan—most likely the breach in protocol that led to the first U.S. transmissions of the virus. Duncan was also reportedly left in an open area of the emergency room for hours, and nurses received constantly-shifting protocols on how to properly care for him. Health officials say it's possible that more members of Duncan's care team could test positive for the virus.
Dive Insight:
It's hard to imagine the largest nurse's association in America picketing hospitals during a time of heightened fear of the Ebola virus and the medically-busy flu season. But DeMoro's comments emphasize just how concerned health workers on the front lines are about a lack of comprehensive, consistent, and coherent protocols at hospitals throughout the nation on how to deal with potential Ebola cases.
The Centers for Disease Control is taking steps to address those concerns. Agency director Dr. Tom Frieden said that the CDC is working on revamped Ebola protocols, including specially-designated Ebola hospitals in every state and CDC Ebola "SWAT teams" that can be immediately deployed to a hospital should the need arise.
