Counteracting Ebola Stress

It is hard to escape the stories about ebola today.  As the country and  individual states scramble to form public health policy, media reports of health care worker exposures are emerging daily.  The latest, a nurse in Texas, triggers the question “Just how contagious is this?” and now a possible exposure in Braintree, MA.  As psychiatric nurses working in health care facilities and seeing multicultural clients in a multicultural city, these are important times to get educated about actual risks and preventative practices. The Boston Public Health Commission  released a statement Sunday night saying that the man in question in Braintree did not meet criteria to be considered at high risk for Ebola but that the commission would continue to monitor the situation.  The Department of Public Health web site provides information for clinicians, universities and colleges and general information about ebola virus. Additionally, Psychiatric CNS’s and Psychiatric NP‘s are mindful of our own concerns and fears as well as those of our clients.  These times provide another opportunity to empower our patients and ourselves with education and strategies to cope with traumatizing news, as well as actual risks.