Nursing union ‘concerned’ about local Ebola preparation

IOWA CITY - The president of a local nurses union says she and some University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics employees are 'very concerned” about the hospital's preparedness for an Ebola patient, should one be admitted at the facility.

But UIHC officials stressed Thursday that they feel ready to handle such an emergency, and are adding simulations, hospital-wide forums, and daily Ebola-specific meetings to make sure they stay ahead on the issue.

Cathy Glasson, president of the local Service Employees International Union, said news about two nurses becoming sick after treating the country's first Ebola patient in Dallas have raised 'big questions” about how seriously hospitals are taking the disease.

She said local union representatives met with UIHC officials earlier this week to discuss updated controls in place, protective gear, and procedures to ensure nurses, specifically, are protected.

'They said they're well prepared,” Glasson said. 'But we have had conversations with nurses, and they said they've had no information provided about extra training and reviews of protocols.”

Even 'rank and file” nurses who wouldn't be assigned to handle an Ebola patient said they want to be educated about how to stay safe.

'We are very very concerned that the UIHC” might not be providing enough training, Glasson said. 'We want to know what they've done specifically, and it's not clear,”

UIHC Chief Nursing Officer Kenneth Rempher told The Gazette on Thursday that as the situation in Dallas evolved, the university has added to its preparations.

It's offering more drills for employees who could be directly involved in caring for an Ebola patient; it's holding hospital-wide Ebola forums for employees wanting more information; and it's planning to hold daily Ebola meetings among hospital officials to stay up to date, Rempher said.

The hospital also is offering ad hoc training to anyone who requests it, and is staying abreast of protective gear recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rempher said the case in Dallas made the threat 'more real,” and UIHC bolstered its training and education efforts, holding one simulation last week and planning another for Friday.

'We will take a simulated patient and walk them through the process,” Rempher said. 'We want to make sure we have all our ducks in a row as it relates to personal protective equipment.”

He said there's a reason not all UIHC staff and nurses have received extensive Ebola training.

'It's a recommendation from the CDC to confine and limit the people involved in care,” Rempher said. 'The fewer people caring for them decreases the likelihood of exposure.”

If a patient triggers an alert, a process is in place to give them protective equipment, isolate them, and get them to the hospital. UIHC clerical employees also are being trained on what to ask patients wanting to make appointments. And, Rempher said, UIHC pharmacists have been advised on how to handle callers and walk-up patients with suspicious symptoms.

Hospitals and nurses across the nation are taking similar steps after several errors were reported in the Texas hospital's handling of the first Ebola patient on U.S. soil. Reports indicate hospital staffers sent Duncan home the first time he came to the emergency room with a high fever, and that some lapse in protocol caused at least two nurses who treated him to subsequently become infected with the deadly virus.

Another 76 nurses who provided some level of care for Duncan also are being monitored for signs of sickness.

In West Africa, where the illness started its massive spread in March, more than 9,000 people have been infected and more than 4,500 have died. The United States has deployed thousands of workers to the hardest hit countries to try and stop its spread.

Rempher told The Gazette that UIHC is holding its first hospital-wide Ebola forum Friday for any employee, and it will continue offering those daily - including on weekends.

Should an Ebola patient turn up at the Iowa City hospital, Rempher said, he feels the staff 'has the training and technology to handle them safely and effectively.”