In this article you will read about How Nurses Can Prevent Themselves During Disease Outbreak
HOW NURSES CAN PREVENT THEMSELVES DURING DISEASE OUTBREAK
For a while now, global health and medicine has been under the attack of a deadly virus called corona virus. Albeit, the world has faced several health challenges such as SARS, Ebola and Lassa fever, and we have always overcome.
I woke up this morning to see that the life threatening Corona virus that has currently held China under siege was detected in one of the foreigner yesterday. This is quite unfortunate, coupled with the fact that Nigeria’s health industry is far behind and lacks facilities, infrastructures and structures. However, this is not the time to throw blames at whomever; it is not the time to reproach the airport facilities for letting that foreigner into our country or the time to point fingers at the frustrating system we find ourselves. Rather, this is time to pick up your horns, raise your voice as the heart of the healthcare system and teach more people about to prevent themselves from this virus. Apparently, an unskilled or unaware nurse will neither know how to teach her patients or herself how to prevent corona virus.
What exactly is corona virus?
Corona virus is caused by the coronavirus family, and the sad fact is that this virus has not been experienced or encountered before. It is gotten from animals, was discovered to have started from a village in China. Corona virus is a global outbreak; moreover it is a public health emergency.
Read This Protect Your Self and Others From Getting Sick
Corona virus can cause pneumonia, cough, fever, and difficulty in breathing. Although corona virus has been changed to COVID-19, but most people still know it has corona virus.
Nurses as we know are the heart of the healthcare system; they receive the patient at the entrance of the hospital. Because of the critical position that nurses hold in the healthcare system, they must pay attention to preventing themselves during disease outbreak.
Nurses can prevent themselves through the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) method. PPE is designed to help health practitioners to prevent being exposed to virus and infections. There are types of PPE and they include.
- Gloves to protect the hands. As a nurse, never wear wet gloves. If it is wet, then it is not healthy. Make use of gowns and aprons to protect your skin
- Wear face masks to protect your mouth and nose
- Make use of goggles to protect your eyes
- Respirators if available to protect your nose and respiratory tract from airborne agents
- It is essential that you choose the right and appropriate PPE to prevent being at risk of a disease.
What are the other things you should put in mind in preventing corona virus and other pandemic outbreak.
- Share facts and not fear. Fear is a normal phenomenal when some negative things begin to happen to people around us. Rather than share false stories that will create more fear, share facts that will help the public stay calm.
- Educate people to stick with healthy facts. This is the period where people will abuse some products, misuse some information and misinterpret some information, because they are scared of what happens next. For instance, during the last Ebola outbreak, people were asked to bath with salt and eat bitter kola. These things were not verified, they were just some false news that spread wide like a wildfire.
- Your health is your priority. As much as your job as a nurse to care for people, you have to stay off whatever will put you at risk of the virus. When you see your health as the first thing in life, you will embrace it and avoid the virus as much as you can. It is good to be an empathic nurse, but dear nurse, your health comes first.
- This is the time when you have to keep preaching the gospel of NO SHARING. Avoid sharing food, cups, towels and clothes with anyone. Also advice people around you not to do the same.
Abdullahi Suleiman a Certified Registered Nurse based in Nigeria, an Entrepreneur and Also a Blogger, passionate about Community Development and Cosmetic Nursing
