Over 100,000 nurses nationwide held a day of action yesterday to protest the lack of preparedness, training, and federally enforced safety precautions against Ebola.
"What we want is to be prepared for [Ebola] and be given optimal personal protective equipment so that if another patient with Ebola or something else comes into the country ... we can say we really are prepared ... Last time we were saying 'we're prepared,' and we were actually not ready," said Karen Higgins, an ICU nurse at Boston Medical Center and President of National Nurses United, a union representing over 190,000 nurses nationwide.
Higgins says one of the areas that needs major improvement is training.
"It can't be a two-hour training," she said. Rather, nurses need to undergo "intense training that really educates" them, in order to be fully protected against the deadly virus when treating infected patients.
During yesterday's day of action, nurses around the country also called for full-body hazmat suits that are resistant to blood and viruses, as well as other equipment that would protect against Ebola.
Higgins says that in order to generate an effective response, these protective measures must be federally-mandated.
"You do not say to a soldier, 'Well, we recommend that the following equipment is what you should wear when you go to war,'" said Higgins, referencing the lack of federally enforced measures against Ebola.
But, unfortunately, says Higgins, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only have the power to make recommendations, and cannot impose protective measures for nurses and health care workers.
And while Higgins and other nurses may never see those federally enforced safety precautions, they say they will continue to fight for a better preparedness plan against the virus.
"As nurses we're always going to be there. We're always going to be at the bedside taking care of patients. We need to be prepared and that's what we're asking," said Higgins.
You can listen to the full interview with Karen Higgins above.
