Dozens of students from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh College of Nursing gathered Nov. 6 for an Ebola overview—a response to the heightened interest in the deadly disease after it recently entered the United States.
The half-day Ebola overview training session and discussion, which was organized by College of Nursing assistant professor Paula McNiel, included a presentation from the director of the Winnebago County Health Department, discussion of social media’s impact, legal and ethical issues related to the disease and a demo of personal protective equipment needed for healthcare workers treating Ebola patients.
By definition, Ebola is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with one of the Ebola virus strains. Symptoms include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting and unexplained hemorrhage, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Ebola is spread through direct contact, which means that body fluids (blood, saliva, mucus, vomit, urine or feces) from an infected person (alive or dead) have touched someone’s eyes, nose, or mouth or an open cut, wound or abrasion.
The spread through direct contact paired with how dangerous the disease is means healthcare professionals must take caution when dealing with patients or people who have been potentially exposed, educators agree.
“The issue of Ebola is like any other contagious disease, from a healthcare standpoint,” McNiel said. “That said, our students need to be aware of proper personal protection and the specifics related to Ebola. There is fear of the unknown and we want to educate nursing students so they can be informed voices amid the many Ebola discussions in the community.”
Throughout the overview, senior nursing students heard examples and statistics, asked questions of a panel and industry professionals, and even got the chance to work in teams to practice dressing and undressing in personal protective equipment similar to what would be needed in a hospital setting if an Ebola patient were being treated.
Nursing student Chelsea Buchholz said the demo activity—along with the learned information from throughout the day’s exercises—fit in perfectly with what’s been being taught in their nursing classes at UW Oshkosh.
“We are currently studying community health so this relates to how we need to help the community relate to this scare,” Buchholz said. “We deal with personal protective equipment all of the time, this is just a more sensitive disease with more equipment and steps needed.”
Ebola, and how it is and is not spread, is scary to citizens around the country. Buchholz said it is her job—and the job of her fellow nurses in training—to provide appropriate information to those she comes in contact with.
“If we have the background information, we will be much calmer, which, ultimately, helps patients and community members remain calm,” she said. “Today’s activities really just help us be prepared.”
“The exercise today was to help prepare our students to be educated advocates in the community related to Ebola. They learned about the importance of identification, isolation, treatment and effective infection control to prevent Ebola transmission,” McNiel said. “Because the issue is very current and in the media, we wanted to share and discuss important valuable resources and highlight the fact that we do have good emergency preparedness systems in place in this country. We thought it was important to take the time to talk about it with our students.”
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