Investigation (PUIS) For Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) In USA Hospitals, Essay Example

Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Hospitalized Patients under Investigation (PUIS) For Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) In U.S. Hospitals

This policy mainly outlines and describes some of the major medical steps and procedures that can be applied in cases of emergency Ebola outbreaks especially towards hospitalized patients under investigation (PUIs) for Ebola virus disease (EVD) in United States hospitals (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Furthermore, the policy is mainly directed to various health care providers and personnel in different health care settings in United States and provides primary guidance’s and monitoring conditions that can be used in order to prevent the spread of Ebola virus (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). In addition, the policy is based on a number of medical professional organizations perspectives including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) medical viewpoints.

Policy Development

This policy development was mainly started after the outbreak of Ebola virus in various West African countries such Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.  After the outbreak of Ebola Virus in West Africa Countries, it was clear that around six health care providers and workers as well as one journalist from the United States were infected with Ebola in West Africa and were later transported to hospitals in the United States for quick treatment (Shear, and Tavernise, 2014).   Despite this, one of the health care providers died in the process of transporting him from Sierra Leone to Nebraska Medical Center. Due to this, American health care workers in Sierra Leone were later evacuated to the United States in order to receive quick treatment and proper testing for the Ebola virus (Shear, and Tavernise, 2014).  The patient was later discharged from the NIH clinical center after proper medication and treatment. Therefore, this health care policy was developed due to high rates of morbidity and mortality among the infected patients with Ebola virus in the United States (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015).  Moreover, the policy was developed to reduce and control high risks of human to human transmission of Ebola virus (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015).  It is also clear from the CDC medical reports that the policy was developed due to lack of FDA approved vaccine and therapeutic conditions for controlling Ebola virus in the United States health care settings (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015).

Policy analysis

This policy was designed with the aim of promoting health care delivery services in cases of Ebola outbreaks in the society and includes various medical standards and precautions that medical providers are expected to take towards prevention and reduction of Ebola virus globally (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015).  According to the CDC reports and studies it is recommended that medical providers should involve standard medical practices, reduce human to human contacts and involve proper waste management practices especially in cases of PUI that have been confirmed to have EVD in the society (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015).  It also covers various additional control measures and guidelines that health care providers should take in cases of EVD outbreaks including avoiding aerosol-generating practices and procedures (Traynor, 2014). The policy also provides possible precautions such as the use of personal protective tools in medical settings in cases of EVD outbreaks (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). This will reduce any medical provider’s bodily fluids contact with Ebola patients.  Moreover, the policy is imperative to various medical practitioners including physicians, nurses as well as therapists and other medical emergency services providers in the society (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015).

The main objective of this health care policy is to provide the best procedures for dealing with emergency Ebola virus outbreaks in the United States as well as globally. According to the CDC based research studies and reports, it is imperative that health care providers be informed about some of the major symptoms and signs of Ebola virus (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Moreover, the policy also provides various steps that can be taken to promote the diagnosis of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) among individuals in the society.

According to the policy reports, early recognition of Ebola virus is very vital and critical towards the control of the virus (Shear, and Tavernise, 2014).  The policy also elaborates and provides some of the screening procedures that can be used in detecting Ebola virus among international travelers to the United States in order to reduce the risks of spreading Ebola Virus. The four major steps that the policy recommends for the early recognition and control of Ebola virus include separation of Ebola patients from others, identifying the symptoms of Ebola virus as well as monitoring and management of the patients (Shear, and Tavernise, 2014).    The major signs of Ebola virus include severe headache, muscle pain, fatigue as well as vomiting and diarrhea and weakness among many other signs.

According to the policy medical providers dealing with Ebola patients should also ensure that they wear protective clothes and equipment. This will promote proper cleaning and disinfecting of medical wastes (Shear, and Tavernise, 2014). The medical providers should also inform and alert various public health authorities in cases of Ebola patient confirmation and identification. The major medical procedures that are recommend for the control and prevention of spread of Ebola virus according to the policy include early identification, isolation of the patient as well as provision of effective infection control practices (Traynor, 2014).

The provision of health care preparedness practices including quarantine and isolation procedures to reduce the spread of the virus are also provided in the policy (Shear, and Tavernise, 2014). In California State the policy has been applied to prevent entry of individuals from the Ebola-infected countries and such individuals are quarantined for twenty-one days (O’Brien, 2014). Moreover, the policy has been adopted in other states such as New York and New Jersey with the aim of preventing the spread of Ebola virus in these states (Sanchez, and Cohen, 2014).

Critique of the Policy

There are various strengths of the policy towards Ebola Virus control, prevention, and treatment. For example, the policy addresses various Ebola emergency preparedness, management and challenges including where to house Ebola patients and methods of motivating health care providers to care for Ebola patients (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). There are also various medical communication procedures, testing procedures and health care information sharing practices that are outlined in the policy (Hodge, Penn, Ransom, & Jordan, 2015).   The policy also covers a number of health care networks including how health care organizations, physicians, and other clinicians can manage Ebola virus. Furthermore, there are also various patient management practices and pre-hospital considerations that are outlined in the policy.

However, the major weaknesses of the policy includes the provision of mandatory quarantine and isolation  practices for around twenty one days for all health care workers and other individuals suspected to be infected with Ebola virus or those returning from West Africa countries to the United States. This has been adopted in states such as New Jersey and New York and proves to be a big challenge to the federal government on the best way to handle the spread of Ebola virus in the society (Chowell, & Nishiura, 2014). The policy also allows states and local officers to provide strict and tighter conditions for screening of individuals suspecting to may have been infected with Ebola virus. This has been a psychological problem and challenge to various health care workers who were returning from West African based countries to the United States.  This is because these health care workers are forced to undergo a number of testing’s and Ebola screening when they land or enter the United States (Sanchez, and Cohen, 2014).   This may discourage other nurses and medical providers from the United States towards volunteering to promote prevention and control of Ebola virus in future outbreaks.  The policy also discourages individuals from traveling to Ebola outbreak countries, and this will negatively influence business operations in these countries. Despite this, a number of medical reports and studies support that there a lot of scientific evidence that indicate low chances of random spread of Ebola virus (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015).

Position of Professional Organization

There are various professional based viewpoints and perspectives based on the policy recommendations. For example, there are various medical experts who argue that the policy may promote Ebola virus globally by discouraging well trained American based medical doctors from traveling to various regions globally to treat and control Ebola virus (Koonin, Jamieson, Jernigan, Van Beneden, Kosmos, Harvey, & Damon, 2015).  However, according to the CDC the policy is very effective for hospitalized patients under investigation for Ebola virus disease since it covers various standards, guidelines and precautions of controlling Ebola spread in the society (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015).  In addition, according to the national institute of health, the policy is imperative towards the prevention of Ebola since it covers additional infection control steps that medical providers should adopt towards the prevention and control of Ebola spread (Karwowski, Meites, Fullerton, Ströher, Lowe, Rayfield, & Oster, 2014).  This includes wearing personal protective clothes and equipment to avoid direct contact with Ebola patients and provision of proper medical waste management and disposal.

Based on my opinion and perspective, I believe that the policy is very effective and can be adopted by various medical practitioners and hospitals globally towards the control and treatment of Ebola Virus.  This is because it provides standards and best procedures that can be used towards the prevention of spread of Ebola virus (Wu, Fairley, Steinberg, & Kozarsky, 2015). The policy also recommends a number of possible solutions that can be used to reduce Ebola Virus including avoiding aerosol-generating procedures, isolation of Ebola patients in isolation rooms and promoting medical providers hand hygienic conditions.  I believe that this policy will provide and promote public educational; research-based medical studies and the best backgrounds for eliminating Ebola virus in the society.

References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Hospitalized Patients under Investigation (PUIs) for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in U.s Hospitals.

Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/healthcare-us/hospitals/infection-control.html

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). When Caring for Patient Under Investigation (PUIs) or Patient with Confirmed Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/healthcare-us/evaluating-patients/think-ebola.html

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Interim Guidance for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems and 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) for Management of Patients under Investigation (PUIs) for Ebola Virus (EVD) in the United States

Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/healthcare-us/emergency-services/ems-systems.html

Chowell, G., & Nishiura, H. (2014). Transmission dynamics and control of Ebola virus disease (EVD): a review. BMC Medicine, 12(1), 1-32.

Hodge, J. G., Penn, M. S., Ransom, M., & Jordan, J. E. (2015). Domestic Legal Preparedness and Response to Ebola. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 43(1), 15-18.

Karwowski, M. P., Meites, E., Fullerton, K. E., Ströher, U., Lowe, L., Rayfield, M., & Oster, A. M. (2014). Clinical Inquiries Regarding Ebola Virus Disease Received by CDC — United States, July 9-November 15, 2014. MMWR: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, 63(49), 1175-1179.

Koonin, L. M., Jamieson, D. J., Jernigan, J. A., Van Beneden, C. A., Kosmos, C., Harvey, M. C., & Damon, I. (2015). Systems for Rapidly Detecting and Treating Persons with Ebola Virus Disease — United States. MMWR: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, 64(8), 222-225.

O’Brien, N. (2014). Ebola Outbreak in the West Africa Deeply Impacts U.S. Health Care Policy. Emergency Management.

Retrieved from http://www.emergencymgmt.com/health/Ebola-Outbreak-Impacts-US-Health-Care-Policy.html

Sanchez, R. and Cohen, E. (2014). New York Official: New Ebola Policy ‘a real stunner’. CNN

Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/25/health/us-ebola/

Shear, M.D and Tavernise, S. (2014). U.S. Moves to End Patchwork of Policies on Returning Ebola Workers.

Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/us/new-rules-coming-for-health-care-workers-returning-from-west-africa.html?_r=0

Traynor, K. (2014). Ebola cases bring practical and clinical challenges. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 71(21), 1822-1827.

Wu, H. M., Fairley, J. K., Steinberg, J., & Kozarsky, P. (2015). The Potential Ebola-Infected Patient in the Ambulatory Care Setting: Preparing for the Worst without Compromising Care. Annals of Internal Medicine, 162(1), 66-67.