Most U.S. Nurses Feel Unprepared to Treat Ebola

WASHINGTON – At least three out of every four nurses in the United States feel unprepared to adequately treat patients with Ebola, according to a survey released on Monday.

The survey, taken from a sample of 2,000 nurses belonging to National Nurses United, the largest association of professionals in the sector in the United States, found that 85 percent of respondents said their hospitals have not provided them with sufficient information to identify and interact with patients showing Ebola symptoms.

The first case of someone being infected inside the United States was a 26-year-old nurse, Nina Pham, who attended Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola and who died last Wednesday.

According to the study, 75 percent of nurses said their hospitals have not informed them about the existence of any specific policy dealing with the admission of patients infected with the virus.

At the same time, 36 percent said there are not enough impermeable hazmat suits of the kind required for medical personnel who come in contact with Ebola patients.

After her infection was confirmed this Sunday, nurse Pham continues in isolation and is "clinically stable," the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Thomas Frieden, told a press conference.

Frieden said the United States should "rethink" the way it handles the control of Ebola inside the country, since Pham's infection is "unacceptable."