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Current Bio-Terrorism Issues in Nursing

Kaitlyn Viglio

Youngstown State University

NURS 2610: Contemporary Nursing

Dr. Louise Aurillo

Fall 2015
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Abstract

In this paper about current bio-terrorism issues in nursing, it is explained that the major

problem with these types of attacks is that they are not prepared for in the same way that national

disasters and terrorist attacks are. Along with our nurses and health care providers not being

prepared for and educated on how to deal with bio-terrorist attacks, the actual occurrence of a

bio-terrorism agent being released can go undetected because the symptoms may not show up in

patients for days, weeks, or even months after it was released in a population. It is hard for

healthcare providers and nurses to be able to successfully treat and care for patients affected by

bio-terrorism agents in these situations unless they are capable of identifying the symptoms and

causes and reporting patterns of diseases to healthcare officials. The main issue with bio-

terrorism in the nursing field is a lack of education and training.

Current Bio-Terrorism Issues in Nursing

When it comes to national or world-wide disasters and epidemics, how do we know that

our medical field, in particular, nurses, are prepared to treat and care for the sick and injured

properly? Especially within the past few decades, the United States has experienced many events

that have taken the lives of countless people. The United States has seen natural disasters such as

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the deadly line of tornados in Missouri and Alabama in 2011; on

the other hand, the United States has also seen terrorist attacks such as the World Trade Center

bombing in 1993, the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Anthrax Attacks in 2001, but the worst

of them all that has seemed to shaped some of today’s most important safety precautions would

be the attacks of September 11, 2001. However, the emergency management plans for these

attacks and disasters were already in place and nurses and medical personnel have received

education on how to deal with these situations. Where the real lack of knowledge seemed to be is

in the area of the release of bio-terrorism agents and pandemic flu events. This paper will talk

about the current issues that nurses and health care providers in the United States are currently

dealing with in regards to bio-terrorism.

Bio-terrorism’s Main Downfall

Bio-terrorism is a terrorism involving the intentional release of biological agents

including bacteria, viruses, or toxins. These agents may be naturally occurring or a modified

form, and are used as a method of warfare. In the case of bio-terrorism and pandemic flu events,

health care providers become the first responders, when usually police men, firefighters, or

EMT’s are the first responders in other crises. So, in bio-terrorism events, the ill go to emergency

rooms, doctors’ offices, or even school clinics as their symptoms begin to appear in hopes for an

answer. Every disaster that is related to bio-terrorism begins in a local community; therefore, all
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of the responsibility must be dealt with within the community first. If the local community needs

help, then that’s when state and national assistance is necessary. These health care providers in

situations like this need to be able to identify the symptoms of the infected, identify patterns of

similar events, and pin-point other irregularities. According to Sigmond and Larson (2002), in

order to better improve early detection we need to “develop rapid diagnostic methods (eg. breath

analysis for pulmonary pathogens) that are accurate, widely applicable, and easy to use in the

field” (p. 491). To be able to quickly detect the exposure and infection in the sick patients, means

that the search for a treatment and prevention can begin sooner. If the knowledge of the health

care providers is inadequate, then the illness’ treatment or cure won’t be found quickly enough,

resulting in a higher susceptibility to spread at a quicker pace, which the end result could be a

nationwide epidemic. Secor-Turner and O’Boyle (2006) say that “nurses will likely be expected

to function in chaotic work in chaotic work environments and provide direct care to victims

infected with unusual or genetically altered infectious microorganisms” (p. 420). Because this

sort of environment for the nurse could bring about great stress and fear of unknown outcomes, it

is essential for adequate training and education to optimize safe functioning during bio-terrorism

attacks, specifically with pandemic flu events and other illnesses.

What makes Bio-terrorism dangerous?

An act of terrorism involving the release of a biological agent is considered to be a major

problem in public health; therefore, it requires a response from many agencies in a cooperative

manner. Dealing with a bioterrorism attack is very much different from an attack involving

nuclear weapons, chemicals, or explosives. According to Mondy, Cardenas, & Avila (2001), “ a

bioterrorist attack would probably not be detected at the time an agent is released into the

population, nor would it elicit an immediate response from police, fire, or EMS personnel” like
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that of a terrorist attack (p. 424). Symptoms from bioterrorism agents may not appear for several

days to several weeks, while terrorist attacks and attacks with nuclear weaponry are known of

and acted on immediately by emergency response personnel. Even when patients go to doctor’s

offices or emergency rooms with certain symptoms, their symptoms as a whole may not follow a

specific pattern, so their illness might be labeled as unknown and reported to local or state health

officials. From there, the officials identify certain uncommon patterns that indicate a bioterrorism

attack. However, what makes these bioterrorism attacks more dangerous is that when the patient

is sent off into public again with their unknown illness, the illness may be spread to more of the

population. In the case that the unusual findings are not reported to officials, then being able to

identify the cause of the symptoms and illness will go longer without receiving treatment. Weiner

and Trangenstein (2006) informed us that “the increase in natural disasters [including bioterrorist

attacks] has only increased the need for our public health leaders worldwide to be able to

quantify information in an efficient and useful format for timely decision making” (p. 215).

After the events of September 11, 2001, the healthcare system has made leaps to better

prepare for events that could result in them having to take care of and treat a very large amount

of patients with about the same symptoms and ailments. Steed, Howe, Pruitt, and Sherrill said

that “early recognition and management of a biological attack are largely dependent on the

clinical expertise of frontline health care personnel” (p. 362). This means that the healthcare

providers that spend the most time at a patient’s bedside, which are nurses, need to be well

educated on how to recognize inconsistencies or irregularities against normal disease patterns.

Not much can prepare a nurse to be able to know how to deal with situations like those talked

about in this paper besides actually experiencing it and learning from it, which is what we have

done as a a whole healthcare system after attacks such as anthrax, H1N1, AIDS, and so on.
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References

Mondy, C., Cardenas, D., & Avila, M. (2001). The role of an advanced practice public health

nurse in bioterrorism prepardness. Public Health Nursing, 20(6), 422-431.

doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1446.2003.20602.x

Secor-Turner, & M., O'Boyle, C. (2006). Nurses and emergency disasters: what is known.

Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, 34(7), 414-420.

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2005.08.005

Sigmond, H. D., & Larson, E. L. (2002). Research oppurtunities in biodefense for the National

Institute of Nursing Research. American Journal of Infection Control, 30(8), 490-494.

doi: 10.1067/mic.2002.128876

Steed, C. J., Howe, L. A., Pruitt, R. H., & Sherrill, W. W. (2004). Integrating bioterrorism

education into nursing curriculum. Journal of Nursing Education. 43(8), 362-367.

Weiner, E., & Trangenstein, P. (2006). Preparing Our Public Health Nursing Leaders with

Informatics Skills to. Consumer-centered Computer-supported Care for Healthy People

122, 215-219.