This #WeNurses discussion will be held in conjunction with @DHgovUK with @JaneMCummings as our guest. The discussion aims to explore the following questions:

• What are the facts about Ebola? 

• What do nurses need to know? 

• What information should nurses give to worried patients and carers?

• How can individual nurses be prepared for Ebola?

• How can we locally be prepared for Ebola?

• What can we do to prevent Ebola in the UK?

• What is being done nationally? 

• How can we support our UK nurses working in West Africa? 

Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer NHS England summed up the nurses role in relation to Ebola by stating “Nurses are on the front line 24 hours a day and are often the first people to see patients coming through the doors at a GP surgery, A & E department or in the community. It is vital they are aware of what to do and how to respond by looking at the latest guidance”  (Keogh 2014) 

In addition to this the infographic below has also been widely shared: 

However there are other aspects requiring consideration, for example NHS preparedness for Ebola. What can be done not only on an individual and awareness level (as mentioned above)? What can and is being done on a local and national level? 

“Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever) is a severe disease caused by a virus of the filovirus family, which occurs in humans and other primates. The disease emerged in 1976 in almost simultaneous outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. Ebola then disappeared after 1979 and was not recognised again until 1994, and outbreaks have been occurring with increasing frequency since.” (Department of Health 2014). The current increase in Ebola cases is caused by the Zaire Ebola strain, the most virulent and dangerous of the known strains.

Even though the largest ever amount of reported cases of Ebola is currently happening in West Africa the risk to the public in the UK remains very low. However are we prepared for Ebola here and what is the nurse’s role in regard to an Ebola ? Most importantly what is the best way to prevent increased Ebola cases, as seen in West Africa, occurring in the UK?

Back in October 2014 there was a National Ebola Exercise  using actors to simulate Ebola in the UK. The learning from this has been used to strengthen preparedness across the UK.   

We should also consider the work of UK nurses who have volunteered in West Africa and their role in the Ebola outbreak. Tweeting nurse @Parafinale has recently returned from Liberia having tweeted routinely during his stay and will soon be going to Sierra Leone continuing to tweet his thoughts from the frontline.

Ebola survivor discharge video 2. Out he comes. Happy times. @WeNurses @ResNurse http://t.co/B1HqrvrD4h

— Peter (@Parafinale) January 10, 2015

@Parafinale (Peter Scott) is working as a research nurse and trial field coordinator with Oxford University, coordinating Clinical Trials of potential treatments for Ebola on the ground in West Africa. Currently there are no proven treatments, but the WHO have selected several promising interventions as suitable for human trials, to try and stop the disease.

Jane Cummings @JaneMCummings Bio:

Jane Cummings Chief Nursing Officer NHS England - Janes previous roles include : NHS North of England where she was Chief Nurse and her key challenges included the development and maintenance of new systems of performance management and strategic leadership for nursing. She was also the lead director for the Quality Framework. While in the North West, Jane developed the Energise for Excellence nursing programme from which Compassion in Practice evolved. Jane has worked for the NHS for several years as a nurse, specialising in emergency care, before moving into general management. She has held a variety of clinical and managerial roles including Director of Commissioning, Director of Nursing and Deputy Chief Executive.

Previously, as the national lead for emergency care, Jane led improvements in the quality of care provided in emergency departments, improved waiting times and delivered the four-hour target in A&E. In January 2005, she was appointed as the National Implementation Director for ‘Choice’ and ‘Choose and Book’.

Joanne Bosanquet MBE @MrsBosanquet Bio:

Joanne was appointed as Deputy Director of Nursing and Midwifery at PHE at the end of September 2013.

She brings knowledge and experience from a range of roles in public health, nursing and health visiting and from her work with the Royal College of Nursing, as a Queen’s Nurse and as a visiting lecturer at both City and London Metropolitan Universities. For the last 7 years, Joanne has worked as a Nurse Consultant in health protection, Health Protection Agency. Joanne was awarded an MBE for services to nursing and healthcare in June 2013.

Currently, Joanne is the Ebola lead for her Directorate and Vice chairs PHE’s Ebola response Governance and Risk cell. She leads for the Director of Nursing Professor Viv Bennett on developing the nursing and midwifery workforce within PHE, also jointly providing expert advice to nurses and to the National Executive/PHE Board on nursing and midwifery issues. As part of PHE’s commitment to the Public Health Workforce Strategy, Joanne is developing relationships with other health and care stakeholders to develop and support a skilled multidisciplinary public health focused nursing workforce. This role is crucial in the implementation of the national nursing and midwifery strategy (Compassion in Practice) and promoting the nursing and midwifery public health contribution.

References 

Department of Health (2014) [Online] Ebola: overview, history, origins and transmission (Accessed 19 Jan 2014)

Department of Health (2014) [Online] National Ebola exercise concludes (Accessed 19 Jan 2014)

Keogh, K (2014) [Online] Remain vigilant to Ebola, Englands Chief Nurse urges (Accessed 19 Jan 2014)