GEAR UP not FEAR: A holistic nurse perspectives on Ebola

Let’s cut to the chase and really gear up to protect ourselves from Ebola and other infectious diseases.

Nursing Organizations like ANA and NJSNA are taking stand to support nurses and the public.  Pressure is given for CDC to have clear strict safety protocols and regulations on direct bedside care of patients identified as Ebola cases or potential cases.  NJSNA recommends NJ Hospitals to transport patients to the nearest out of state hospitals skillfully trained and prepared for Ebola cases. That sounds good but what happens before and during transport?

Nurses, physicians and other support staff are not new to the use of protective gear s as part of protocols for sterile procedures and infectious cases. Nurses and other health professionals live and breathe various protocols. They continue to be trained day in and day out for best practices in putting safety to all.  They are most flexible and rigidly trained for just about anything to care for others. These are protocols based on the thinking that outside environment (bacteria and viruses) cause infectious diseases. Interesting since bacteria and viruses co-exist with us. What is hurting who or who is hurting what? Remember, there are more bacteria, both good and bad, in our bodies than cells.

For every situation comes specific protocols and equipment to protect the nurses, caregivers and the patients.  Nurses remain to be in the frontline and they are most aware of their responsibility to provide safety for themselves and others. However, nurses tend to receive the blame when others seem to divert blame instead of looking at the system’s shortcomings.  Nurses care for patients long before they know that the patients that they are caring for have some type of infectious disease, Ebola or not.

There are other more ways that can be done as we learn from others on what they have done. Doctors without Borders in Africa take extra steps such as putting your hands with the gloves on and dipping it in a bleach solution before taking them off.  Putting on and taking off when done correctly makes a difference in the exposure.  It cannot be complicated since more errors can happen. Perhaps we can learn from those who have been dealing with it.

Now what?

While news spread fast about increasing number of EBOLA cases in United States, while CDC, the government and hospitals are doing what they know best to prepare the hospitals to be of best service to those who are sick with EBOLA and those nurses and others caring for these patients, while other authorities are trying to make decisions on transport in or not of those coming from countries who are known to have EBOLA cases, and many other external measures, while many argue, be mad , and be confused on what the government or CDC could have done or must do, how about we look deeper, expand our perceptions, think differently or even think simple yet welcome complexity.

Think immune system.  Begin with your immune system; extend to your family, community, country and other nations.  Think of other creatures, other beings. Act local, think global.  Act global, think local.

Go to the roots of the problem. Are we connected to what is going on with our environment? Are we just living and thinking that we are separate from our environment from plants, animals, insects and all other beings?  Have we been thinking that conditions in other countries will not affect us? How far have we messed up our environment that we are not able to co-exist with bacteria and viruses?  Start looking into our environment –home, work, church and others.

Explore on ways that we can help improve living conditions in countries and even in our cities that do not have access to clean water and disposal of wastes.  This would lead us to expedite on finding ways to have economically sound ways of livelihood for all citizens of the world.  Many studies state that places where there is not a wide disparity between the haves and have-nots, there is less crime, higher rate of educated and healthier individuals.

Assess the way our families, our communities, our country is structured.  My conversation with a good friend who has been in integrative physician long before it became a buzz word, expressed the fact that it is worthwhile for us to accept first and foremost that there is something wrong with our structure from politics to economics, In church, in school, at work, in current system of what we consider health and well-being.  A good structure is crucial for healing to take place.  A structure that allows healing to flow like rivers to the magnificence of the oceans, transforms illnesses to wellness.

Perhaps we can start to humble ourselves to accept that we do not know it all.  We can also start to accept that there are those who know more than us particularly those who are affected by Ebola way before.

Get ourselves ready to build our immune system so we can be ready anytime.   Are we getting the best nutrients to prepare us?  Have we even thought that perhaps we can learn from other beings such as bats that may have the virus but never really died of Ebola?

Expedite ways to build your immune system.  Do you know what’s genetically resonating to your cells?  What are your cultural ways that are indigenous to your heritage? How did your ancestors build their immune system? Do you know the type of nutrition, rituals and other practices that they honored to protect themselves?

Instead of being fearful, rest your mind so you can really draw from inner wisdom that is already inherent in our selves.  It’s okay to trust yourself. In rest and relaxation, the power of how the different body parts, organs, hormones, fluids, enzymes and  everything in our body, mind and spirit are given the chance to work in synchrony like a wonderful orchestra. When fearful, exhausted and tense, immune system is compromised. Don’t let media and other conversations stir fear into you. Remember that what you focus will manifest in you.  Being aggravated by other’s actions such as whether it was responsible of them to travel or not, or get out of their quarantine is not going to protect you.  You might as well, learn to relax, go within to gear up for anything that comes your way.

Evolution teaches us the lesson that only the strong will survive and thrive. Be strong.  Gear up not fear.

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