Like it or not, here is my take on Nina Pham and Amber Vinson: OK, here is my take on the whole Ebola business and nurses being non-compliant with putting on and taking off Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Nursing is NOT just taking care of a disease and assisting the medical team to cure a disease. Nursing is taking care of the person. Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, no matter what they did should not be looked down upon because they cared for another human being. It’s easy to do the tasks of nursing, not so much the emotional aspect. Behind every disease, that a doctor sees, is a human being that a nurse cares for. Good nurses, are taught, and learn to care for the totality of a person, regardless of the disease. It’s easy to sit back and judge… “Well she should have known.” She did know! Trust me she knew, but she/they were likely the only human contact their patient had in the last days of his life. How could you not have human interaction with him? Did either of them let their guard down? Perhaps. Did it make a difference to Mr. Duncan? For sure. Did it make a difference to either of these two nurse? Absolutely! Was it worth it? Who are we to judge? As a nurse I feel as though my biggest attribute is caring. I truly care for and about other people. Yes that puts me at risk. It puts me at risk of loss, both of the patient that I cared for and in this case possibly my own life. Any of us that have cared for an end of life patient knows that it’s not easy to step outside yourself and just follow protocol. There is a person there. Who in nursing has not gotten blood, vomit, feces, urine, or secretions on your bare skin? When you are helping a person transition from this life to the next it’s not always easy to follow protocol. There really isn’t a protocol for helping someone die. No, I don’t necessarily take care of patients anymore in my current job. When I did, “my” job was to nurture them. Now that I am not at the bedside, my job is still to nurture, the focus has just shifted from the patients I took care of to the nurses I have the pleasure of working with. So please, back the EFF off judging what Nina Pham, or Amber Vinson may or may not have done. If it were your family member you would have been happy they were there.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 00:52:36 +0000
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