Kaci Hicox. The nurse defying quarantine after working with Ebola patients in Africa with Doctors Without Borders. The nurse who feels because she works for the CDC she has the authority to determine if she needs to be in quaratine - to the point she hired a lawyer to sue the state. This whole sad affair speaks volumes about her abilities as a nurse a specifically, and her compassion for others in general. She knows that each state sets the guidelines for quarantine, and that hers (Maine) is 21 days. As a nurse she also knows that even the lower protection protocols for Isolation are determines by doctors, not nurses. Is their experienced input valuable? Yes. Is it a determining factor? No. I personally feel her license should be reviewed under ethical misconduct. I wouldnt let her near anyone I cared about. With her personal views of healthcare being obvious in how shes acting, Id be worried shed decide a doctor was wrong in how a loved was being treated. Change medication doses because she knows better? Reduce oxygen flow because she knows better? Ignore requests for pain meds because she knows the patient doesnt need it? Decide a code shouldnt be called because shes got it under control? How can she be trusted to care for a patient after this? Simply put, this is a nurse whose ego had grown to the point she feels her knowledge and abilities exceed doctors who have far more training than she - including doctors who specialze in diseases like Ebola, upon whose knowledge and experience was used to set the quaratine standards. This is worse than Dr. Craig Spencer, the doctor who decided he didnt need to be quaratined, lied to city and state officials about being quarantined, then went out all over New York City - riding in Uber cabs and going bowling - before being caught. Why is it worse? Because in the Hickoxs case, shes seen what this doctor did. He scared thousands of people, stressed even more. Way out of bounds of that part of the oath that says do no harm... Healthcare providers, the good ones anyway, know that theyre there for more than just treating the symptoms of the moment. They also provide comfort, recognize and care for patients being scared and concerned, and in general are compassionate and hopefully comforting to their patients. Kaci Hickox has either replaced or confused selfishness for compassion.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 12:24:50 +0000
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