AIBU to refuse to be held prisoner at work?

[KitKat1985]

www.theargus.co.uk/news/18227689.fresh-suspected-coronavirus-case-nurses-mill-view-hospital-held-quarantine/?fbclid=IwAR3IShE3kLzzULNr8qVGu-31Bxf_n4YbOVlDL1mXfm6CgQAdK1-XtTXRFCo

I'm a nurse in this Trust. The nurses involved have apparently been refused the right to leave the building and have bee there since yesterday because they treated a patient with suspected coronavirus. This in my opinion is complete overkill and they are essentially holding the staff like prisoners. Even if they were unlucky enough to get coronavirus, they won't immediately get ill and be contagious anyway, so why not just let them go home (maybe with facemasks etc on) and quarantine them there?! There's no way anyone is keeping me from going home from work.

Go home and stay home, keep your family with you

Is this a goading post????

Surely the risk far out weighs your personal demands?

You would really put other people at risk through selfishness?? And you work at said trust? Surely you should know better then!

If that were me, I would want to ensure I was clear of this virus and everybody around me. If that mean being quarantined for a period of time, then so be it!

So should we just cancel the quarantine restrictions for coronavirus? If its ok for the nurses to go home why not let anyone else go who wants to.

@Luanmapo It's glorified flu, it's not the ebola virus! Flu isn't a new thing. There's new strains of flu appearing all the time, and all strains of flu can kill. Shall we all just quarantine ourselves forever?

My God, you're a nurse, surely you understand the risks. Unbelievable. Think you're in the wrong job..

Flu isn't a new thing.

OK now I don't actually believe you're a nurse. It isn't flu.

YABU and very selfish.

I think you all miss my point.

1. There are horrible contagious viruses around us all the time, and as a nurse I'm exposed to them a lot. I take sensible precautions but life has to go on.
2. I have two young children. One of whom has autism and would be massively distressed about me being away for that length of time. I refuse to put her through that for hysteria largely fuelled by the media.

@KitKat1985 I’m well aware of what it is. But to some people it is extremely dangerous indeed!
So surely ensuring you are free of this virus and all your co workers for a set period of time is small fry compared to potentially having it and inadvertently passing it onto somebody who could go on and die?
It’s not permanent, so not imprisonments, but if the government have swt instructions to quarantine people, just get on with it: you can’t change anything. Just feel safe in the knowledge you will be keeping yourself and others safe.

You're being really selfish. Do you want to expose your DC to it?

Wow @KitKat1985 this isn't going to go the way you thought it might...

While I respect people's right to family life and to go home etc, these are extraordinary circumstances. It's not as if it happens every day, or once a year, or even in a decade.

Do you guys get trained or briefed for what would happen if there was a pandemic?! If it did happen, would you still expect to be able to leave your site in order to be back for your normal routine etc?

I'm not goading myself, it's a genuine question.

I think it’s you missing the point.

Are you really a nurse? If so, you'd presumably know that normal face masks offer virtually no protection. And the staff are hardly being held hostage. They are being quarantined for the good of everyone. Surely that's sensible, however inconvenient?

I agree with you. This is unreasonably disruptive to life when you could walk out and get in your car and have gone quarantine. You would be in contact with a lot less people then and there would be LESS chance of spread. People coming in for the next shifts can use appropriate precautions just like they do with every other infectious disease. Even with Ebola people are allowed to leave after their shift

Okay, genuine question to all the 'YABU' people. If this does become a pandemic and you quarantine all the staff exposed (which would be thousands) who on earth do you think is going to look after the sick people?

I'm a nurse and I would hate this. I dont really understand what the trust think they are doing. We cant keep everyone that gets coronavirus in hospital. The safest thing is for people to self quarantine at home unless they need urgent medical help. I thought the incubation period was 14 days and I assume they arent going to keep them for 2 weeks!

If they were that worried about them infecting others surely they could have got them home somehow with people in hazmat type suits so noone else has chance to come into contact with them apart from their families of course!

Rightly or wrongly I think you'll find that no you can't refuse - new laws enacted this week to ensure that.

The amount of suspected coronavirus patients being brought into A/Es via ambulance as GPs won't visit them is so much higher than being reported! If every nurse had to go into lock down then there would be no hospitals for everyone else to visit or nurses to be treated by.
Yes I work in a hospital and we have had 3 suspected cases this week already!
For most people the coronavirus will present just as normal flu would so YANBU OP.

There's no way anyone is keeping me from going home from work.

Actually there is now - and thank goodness.
You really are in the wrong job.

Just take time off work then.

If they say you're staying you're staying you don't have a choice and can be held against your will

How would your autistic DD feel about having to be in hospital on oxygen?

I've had flu, I've had pneumonia. I've also had the original corona visits and it put me in hospital.

So I'll pass on this new one, thanks.

I don't believe that you are a Nurse.

It seems very OTT to keep the nurses in work. are they going to be held there for 2 weeks (which is the incubation time)? If not, it is a bit pointless.

And if they have a 2 week quarantine, they need to be allowed to do it at home. that would include keeping the kids & other family home for 2 weeks, but that is preferable to being kept in work for 2 weeks.

And for the record all the suspected cases we have had have turned out to be people with normal flu....
Oh and the one person who thought he had it because he'd had a Chinese takeaway the night before

I agree with you tbh. What we’re doing now simply isn’t going to work, however you
slice it. It’s the health care version of security theatre. The man mopping the floor in the Brighton G’s surgery, which has apparently reopened, was laughable. Deep cleaning my arse. Did they disinfect every item on those shelves?