TODAY — Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital nurse Briana Aguirre, who cared for her friend and co-worker Nina Pham after she tested positive for the Ebola virus, says she can no longer defend her hospital over how she claims it responded to the disease once Thomas Eric Duncan arrived.
“I watched them violate basic principles of nursing,” Aguirre told TODAY‘s Matt Lauer in an exclusive interview that aired Thursday. “I would try anything and everything to refuse to go there to be treated. I would feel at risk by going there. If I don’t actually have Ebola, I may contract it there,” she said.
Administrators never discussed with staff how the hospital would handle an Ebola case prior to Duncan’s arrival, Aguirre alleged.
“We never talked about Ebola, and we probably should have,” she said. Instead, “they gave us an optional seminar to go to. Just informational, not hands on. It wasn’t even suggested we go.… We were never told what to look for.”
“I expected more out of us,” Aguirre said.
Earlier in the week, a union that says it represents nurses in every state criticized the hospital, saying that protocols to protect workers were not in place.
Aguirre said she never dealt directly with Duncan, who was initially put in an area with “up to seven other patients,” but she talked with colleagues who did work directly with the patient. She said there was mass confusion over procedures, including how to handle Duncan’s lab work.
“It was just a little chaotic scene. Our infectious disease department was contacted to ask, what is our protocol. And their answer was, we don’t know. We’re going to have to call you back,” she said.
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