An associate professor of nursing at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is featured in a new Zika virus webinar for nurses. Helen Hurst says the one-hour program focuses on what nurses need to know about the disease that is spread through mosquito bites. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the virus causes severe birth defects. Hurst says nurses are often on the front line of education and they need to ask key questions.
“Have you recently traveled to an area with a Zika outbreak? If you did, do you have any mosquito bites? Has your husband or boyfriend recently been to an area with Zika? By the nurses doing that initial asking of questions like -- Have you been on vacation? Are you planning to go on vacation to hit the person who is trying to get pregnant? -- you really start that conversation,” Hurst said.
More than two billion people live in parts of the world where the Zika virus can spread. Researchers find large areas of South America most susceptible. Hurst says no locally-acquired mosquito-borne Zika cases have been reported in the U.S. But the same kind of mosquito that carries Zika can be found in Louisiana. She encourages people, especially pregnant women, to be vigilant about mosquito bites.
“The greatest piece of information is that we need to protect ourselves against mosquito bites. We need to just remember to wear our long-sleeve shirts and pants to cover exposed skin, use U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellents because those are safe for pregnant women, and not leave our doors open rather always use our screens on our house,” Hurst said.
Hurst collaborated with a Purdue University nursing professor and a health scientist from the CDC on developing the webinar for the American Nurses Association. The organization represents more than 3.4 million registered nurses. The ANA produced the webinar in partnership with four other health organizations.