With strengthened guidelines for health care workers, the CDC ups its game against the deadly Ebola virus.

Informed by the cases of two nurses who contracted Ebola virus disease (EVD) while caring for a patient with the disease in Dallas, TX, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA, has unveiled strengthened guidance for health care workers. Further, nursing organizations are pledging to work together to identify gaps and make system-level improvements to protect both patients and caregivers. The CDC's new recommendations emphasize rigorous training for health care workers in how to put on and take off personal protective equipment (PPE), and they state that this activity should always be carefully supervised by a monitor. The guidance also states that health care workers should use either an N-95' respirator mask or a powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) when they are providing care to a patient with Ebola. Experts stress that the new guidance does not change the fundamental issue that Ebola is transmitted through contact with infectious substances from patients. Nursing organizations are pledging to work together to identify problems and improve safety for both caregivers and patients.