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Fear

By Kathleen Morris posted 12-04-2014 10:13 AM

  

I wrote this piece more than a month ago now.  I was trying to convey the fear and anger we all felt during the worse of the Ebola scare. I am hopeful that the ongoing actions taken by so many people to control this disease have provided us with a path to conquer our personal demons.  Only then can we take thoughtful, healing actions that support us all. 

Frankly, when asked to write a piece on the Ebola situation, I was stumped.  What can I say that has not already been in the news?

I can say that the onset of Ebola in the United States brought back memories of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  At a time when HIV/AIDS was a new and largely untreatable disease, I worked in a dialysis unit.  Some of the nursing staff were reluctant to care for HIV/AIDS patients; one had been told by her husband that she would be barred from the house if she worked with an infected patient.  In an era before needle-less systems, we were all worried about sticking ourselves with a contaminated needle, an all too realistic concern. 

The difference between then and now, of course, is the immediacy of Ebola transmission, the rapid course of the disease, and the high mortality rate.  And we are usually scared of what we know little about…scared that we will be infected, scared that we will bring it home to our family members, and scared that we will be exposed to the disease by the behavior of other, more careless people.

But I have been surprised by the vehement expressions of blame and scorn directed towards some of our colleagues whether it be for being poorly prepared to treat the disease and thereby exposing others, or through travel during what should have been a period of quarantine.  I have read and listened to newscasts in which their behavior was described as criminal or negligent.  I have heard that they should have their licenses disciplined or revoked…this while they were following the rules and procedures laid out for them.

I have witnessed federal legislators agitating for closing our borders to persons traveling from infected nations.  I have seen scorn being heaped on the CDC by our representatives and senators.  And though I agree that we could have been better prepared for this disease, I wonder about the need to blame and point fingers.

One evening, I listened to a report on the African children orphaned when their parents contracted and died of Ebola.  No one will adopt or foster these children.  They are too afraid.  It’s a situation we can’t conceive of in America, watching a toddler wander the streets alone and unprotected. 

That’s what I hear over and over…the expression of fear. 

But there are many that have used that fear to advocate for better education and preparation of our healthcare workforce.  Government regulatory agencies, professional associations, scientists, educators and caregivers have pulled together to make the changes necessary to inform us, prepare us, and protect us during a time of contagion.  Their actions help to lesson our fear.

I have heard and read about those healthcare providers that have chosen to fight Ebola on the ground by traveling to countries where the disease is rampant and the provisions limited, even primitive. 

I watched a news program highlighting the persons who have taken in the orphans of Ebola, even though they will also be shunned.

I saw a group of coworkers wave goodbye and send supportive messages to nurse Nina Pham as she left Texas for treatment at the National Institutes of Health. 

I watched my colleagues at the association work long and hard to provide information to our members and to the community, to collaborate, and to advocate for better education and preparation of us all.  And we aren’t done yet.

So, I think we are doing something positive in this difficult time…despite any fear we may be feeling.  Maybe even because of it. 

Fear has its uses. 

 

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