Only a few hospitals in the U.S. are currently treating Ebola patients, but healthcare workers around the country are on edge, according to an article on The Wall Street Journal website.
Issues around communication, training and pay are being raised and healthcare facilities are trying to deal with staff concerns as they worry about staffing if Ebola reaches their doors.
New York’s Mount Sinai Health System is trying to combat “a rising sense of anxiety” among staff with town hall meetings hosted by the organization’s president and an infectious-disease expert, according to the article.
Managers are also being trained to take the emotional temperature of their employees with brief huddles during shift changes.
Right now, Sinai staff care for the patients they are assigned to but the health system is trying to figure out how to respond if a worker refuses, the article said.
Mount Sinai and several other hospitals said they don’t plan to give extra pay to those caring for Ebola patients. Stanford Wilson, an employment lawyer based in Atlanta, advised against so-called hazard pay, saying it could create problems for employers.
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