Stop Calling Me 'the Ebola Nurse'

FIRST PERSON-Nobody should’ve had to watch me ride my bicycle out in the open as politicians fed the public false fears and misinformation. Illustration: Kirsten Ulve for Guardian US Opinion
 
I never had Ebola. I never had symptoms of Ebola. I tested negative for Ebola the first night I stayed in New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s private prison in Newark. I am now past the incubation period – meaning that I will not develop symptoms of Ebola. 
I never had Ebola, so please stop calling me “the Ebola Nurse” – now! 
This is what did happen: I was quarantined against my will by overzealous politicians after I volunteered to go and treat people affected by Ebola in west Africa. My liberty, my interests and consequently my civil rights were ignored because some ambitious governors saw an opportunity to use an age-old political tactic: fear. 

Christie and my governor in Maine, Paul LePage, decided to disregard medical science and the constitution in hopes of advancing their careers. They bet that, by multiplying the existing fear and misinformation about Ebola – a disease most Americans know little about – they could ultimately manipulate everyone and proclaim themselves the protectors of the people by “protecting” the public from a disease that hasn’t killed a single American. 
Politicians who tell lies such as “she is obviously ill” and mistreat citizens by telling them to “sit down and shut up” will hopefully never make it to the White House. 

Minn. hospital patient attacks nurses with metal pipe

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (KABC) --

A Minnesota hospital patient goes berserk and begins attacking nurses with a large metal pipe he obtained by disassembling his hospital bed.

The entire incident - caught on camera - points out the danger that hospital employees can face.

The 68-year-old man surprised nurses at around 2 a.m., running through the hospital with the bar. He injured four people, including one nurse who suffered a collapsed lung.

Police confronted the man with a Taser. He died later that night.

"By every stretch of the imagination, this was a highly violent incident," a police spokesman said.