What Nurses Really Want to Say About Ebola

Two health-care workers in Dallas have now been infected with Ebola.

Nina Pham, 26, is in good condition. Another unnamed healthcare worker was diagnosed with the virus late Tuesday night. Both treated Thomas Eric Duncan, who died of Ebola last week.

Other nurses who treated Duncan now say they worked for days without proper protective gear and faced constantly changing protocols. They said hazardous waste, at one point, was piled to the ceiling.

Often on the very front lines in treating infectious patients, nurses must put on a brave face and deal with the worst -- explosive diarrhea, projectile vomiting and other bodily fluids. But privately, many who identify as nurses say they are terrified of treating -- and catching -- Ebola.

"I've been hearing loud and clear from health-care workers from around the country that they're worried," said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC.

"Even in the best of hospitals following all the protocol, we can minimize the risk to hospital personnel, but we can never eliminate it," added Dr. David Weber, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina's hospital.

Users of the app Whisper who identify themselves as nurses, allowing them to anonymously send and receive messages, say they are afraid, unprotected and thinking of quitting their jobs over the possibility that Ebola may wind up in their hospitals.

Mashable got a look at some of their Whisper messages:

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