The state of Maine and a nurse who had treated victims of the Ebola virus in West Africa reached a settlement deal on Monday, allowing her to travel freely in public but requiring her to monitor her health closely and report any symptoms. The settlement, filed in nurse Kaci Hickox's home town of Fort Kent, in Maine's far north, where she returned after being briefly quarantined in New Jersey, keeps in effect through Nov. 10 the terms of an order issued by a Maine judge on Friday. Hickox returned to the United States last month after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone and was quarantined in a tent outside a hospital in New Jersey for four days despite showing no symptoms.
A U.S. nurse who challenged quarantines of health care workers returning from treating West African Ebola patients said on Sunday she thought "an abundance of politics" lurked behind them. Kaci Hickox has fought a heated public battle over what she considers draconian measures to isolate her for 21 days after her return from Sierra Leone, in a case that highlights the dilemma over how to balance public health needs and personal liberty. In some U.S. states officials such as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie have imposed strict quarantines on health workers returning from three Ebola-ravaged West African countries, but the U.S. federal government opposes such measures.
The largest U.S. nurses union is planning a day of action in mid-November to protest the lack of federally enforced safety precautions against Ebola. National Nurses United (NNU) announced it will hold events in at least 13 states and the District of Columbia to call attention to the issue. The group has been one of the most vocal critics of the federal response to Ebola, arguing the best way to prepare for a pandemic would be to impose new training and protection requirements for healthcare workers.
Kaci Hickox, the nurse who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa, vowed to fight Maine officials who are seeking a court order to force her to self-quarantine at home. Hickox, who is holed up in a house in the town of Fort Kent, gave the state until Thursday to let her move freely and threatened to take the matter to court herself. But Maine Health Commissioner Mary Mayhew said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that "when it is made clear by an individual in this risk category that they do not intend to voluntarily stay at home for the remaining 21 days, we will immediate see a court order."
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) will allow a quarantined nurse to return home to Maine after three days of controversy over her isolation, the New Jersey Department of Health announced Monday. The nurse, Kaci Hickox, was the first person quarantined under New Jersey's strict anti-Ebola protocols. She has protested the quarantine as "inhumane" in media interviews and engaged a lawyer to pursue legal action against New Jersey. Hickox is not currently showing symptoms of Ebola. State officials said they quarantined her on Friday after she was found to have a fever at the airport. Hickox disputes this, telling media outlets she was flushed and frustrated after workers prevented her from leaving for several hours.
Back in the day, nurses will tell you, if a doctor came into a room and no chair was available for him, a nurse would have to give up her seat. Those days are long gone, but for a long time, nurses didn't have a guaranteed seat at the health care policy table—until now. The Ebola epidemic, and its intrusion into the U.S. health care system, brought nurses fully into the national conversation about how to handle this potential public health threat. For the overall good of our health care system, we need to stay there.