Nurse Barbara Smith displays some of the personal protective equipment used when dealing with Ebola during an education session Tuesday in New York,. (AP/Photo)
A new survey from allnurses.com, the largest online networking and support site for nurses, shows that even after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its updated safety guidelines, nurses continue to have serious concerns about dealing with Ebola.
The survey of more than 1,900 nurses, taken on October 21, one day after the CDC announcement, shows confidence in a speedy implementation of those guidelines is extremely low.
Only 23 percent believe their hospital or medical facility will be able to effectively implement the guidelines within the next 30 days. It also reveals more than half — 52 percent — of respondents did not feel that nurses working with Ebola patients would be sufficiently prepared, even once the guidelines were implemented in their facility.
“Our nurses are saying that while the guidelines look good on paper, the true test is whether or not our hospitals and clinics can invest the time and resources necessary to get it right,” said Brian Short, founder of allnurses.com, and a registered nurse himself.
“It basically comes down to a matter of trust: nurses know the training and tools they need to deal with this – and any other potential infectious disease outbreaks in the future – but need to see that they will get that information and training in a timely manner,” he said.
Additional concerns voiced by allnurses.com members include lack of adequate staff to effectively use the buddy system outlined for personal protective equipment procedures as well as the fact that these guidelines are recommendations rather than mandates. That means health care facilities have the option to either follow them or not.