Ebola in the United States, health and medical assignment help
When responding to classmates below, provide additional critiques on approaches used by public health and medical professionals during the U.S. Ebola cluster investigation. The answer has to be a minimum of 50 words with one peer-reviewed/scholarly reference and citation. Here are two references that can assist you. Thank you.
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-a…
http://snhu-media.snhu.edu/files/course_repository…
On September 19, 2014, Duncan went to Monrovia Airport where, according to Liberian officials, Duncan lied about his history of contact with the disease on an airport questionnaire before boarding a flight to Brussels (Dhillon & Kelly, 2015). This caused the Ebola disease to be brought to other countries. Mr. Duncan went to the hospital then was sent home because no one asked him if he traveled outside the US. It wasn’t until Mr. Duncan went back to the hospital with the same symptoms that the Dr discovered that it was contracted the Virus. Ebola virus can be transmitted by direct contact with blood, body fluids, skin of Ebola patients, and people who have contracted the virus (Dhillon & Kelly, 2015). As of July 1, 2015, there have been only two imported cases of confirmed Ebola, including one death, and two locally acquired cases of confirmed Ebola in healthcare workers reported in the United States (Dhillon & Kelly, 2015).
Hospitals were told to identify exposure history, if patient have lived or traveled to a country with widespread Ebola transmission or had contact with an individual with confirmed Ebola Virus (EDV) within the previous 21 days (CDC, 2015). In addition to exposure history they were told to identify signs and symptoms: Fever or Ebola-compatible symptoms: headache, weakness, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or hemorrhage (MHA, 2014). Once they identified these things if they felt that they had a possible case of Ebola on their hands they were instructed to isolate the patient in quarantine rooms that met federal guidelines (MHA, 2015). The CDC also released guidelines for equipment that should be worn by hospital staff that were to be coming in contact with these patients and asked that each center have these items set aside in pre made kits for easy and quick access (AHA, 2014).
According to the Washington post news, National Nurses United said that seventy-six percent of nurses surveyed report that their hospitals have not issued adequate policies on how to deal with patients who might be infected with Ebola (Brown, 2014). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issue guidelines but have no authority to enforce those guidelines therefore, each individual hospital responds at their own discretion (De Moro, 2014).
The best practice for hospital dealing with the Ebola virus are: To practice universal precaution, collect traveling information from patients, always wear personal protective equipment (PPE), practice isolation, implement healthcare professionals to choose the impermeable, fluid-resistant surgical or isolation gown that passes: ANSI/AAMI PB70 Level 4 requirements and covers all the skin in the body and protecting mucous membranes (Guidance on Personal Protective Equipment, 2015). Disinfect often and wash hands thoroughly after Ebola patient contact (Guidance on Personal Protective Equipment, 2015).
Based on my analysis, the Ebola outbreak that happened in 2014 proved that we (United States) were not ready for the virus. The first thing is that health care centers need to improve their communication from the nurses and support staff involved in patient triage to the doctors who are responsible for treating the patients. Next, it needs to be a set list of triage questions to cover all of the bases and if those questions are answered in a certain way the treating physicians need to be notified immediately. Once these physicians are notified they can then isolate the patients and keep themselves and the support staff safe by following best practices until the patient can be transported to a facility that is properly equipped to treat them. Lastly, the government should institute standards to make healthcare centers as safe as possible for employees as well as patients. These best practices are not strictly regulated. If healthcare centers are found to be willfully non-compliant then they would need to be penalized. By making these small changes we will be more effective in treating this terrible disease and stop it from spreading unnecessarily.
