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GOOD NEWS: US Ebola patient ‘is doing well’

October 15, 2014 11:58 am

Nina Pham, the Vietnamese-American nurse who contracted Ebola at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, says she is going fine as everyone prays for her recovery.

“I’m doing well and want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers,” she said in a statement released by the hospital.

“I am blessed by the support of family and friends and am blessed to be cared for by the best team of doctors and nurses in the world.”

The 26-year-old nurse was infected when she attended to Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian who brought the virus to America.

Duncan, the first Ebola patient in America, died a few days after being diagnosed.

Pham is now in good condition, Wendell Watson, spokesman for Texas Health Resources, said on Tuesday.

She is being treated at the same hospital in Dallas where she was infected.

Here are interesting facts about her, as reported by CNN.com.

She’s Vietnamese-American

Pham grew up in a Vietnamese family in Fort Worth, Texas.

She didn’t go far away for college, attending Texas Christian University in the same city. Pham graduated with a nursing degree in 2010.

And just two months ago, she received certification in critical care nursing, which deals specifically with life-threatening problems.

She’s very religious

“She is a very devoted Catholic, and always puts the other people’s interests ahead of her own,” said family friend Tom Ha, who has known Pham since she was in eighth grade.

Ha taught Pham in Bible class at his church.

“She comes from a family that is (of) a very strong faith,” he said. So he wasn’t surprised “that she (did) more than her duty called for in order to make sure the patient had a chance to survive.”

When Pham called the church to let members know she had contracted Ebola, “everybody at the church” began crying, he said.

She loves her job

Ha, the family friend, said nursing isn’t just a job for Pham — it’s a calling.

“I think that she takes it (as) more than a career. I think it’s a vocation, because her family, from the time that we met, they always serve other people,” he said.

When she was accepted into nursing school, she was really excited, a family friend told The Dallas Morning News.

“Her mom would tell her how it’s really hard and a bunch of her friends quit doing it because it was so stressful,” the friend told the paper. “But she was like, ‘This is what I want to do.’ ”

What’s a hospital supposed to do if an Ebola patient shows up?

She’s a good teacher

Not only is Pham skilled in proper nursing techniques, she was a scrupulous teacher, too.

Jennifer Joseph trained under Pham at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Though she now works at another hospital, she remembers the guidance she received from Pham.

“Knowing Nina, she’s one of the most meticulous, thorough, effective nurses,” Joseph told CNN affiliate KTVT. “She taught me infection control and hand hygiene and protocol. I learned so much of that from her.”

Joseph said she also has faith that those taking care of her now will help their colleague recover.

“I have full confidence they’ll be able to get her through this.”