Nursing and complex humanitarian emergencies: Ebola is more than a disease

To effectively address the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, it must be viewed in terms of the connections between health, politics, security, the environment, and poverty. For the people in the countries involved and those responding, it is more than the viral illness. Although the medical management of the disease is far from simple, it is really only the proximal event of much greater social upheaval in the region, creating what is known as a complex humanitarian emergency (CHE). This article describes a course to introduce nursing students to CHEs and the role of nurses in the field of global response. CHEs are becoming more frequent with high death and disease rates. Nurses must become familiar with their complexity and multifaceted response. Although the planning for the course predated the current epidemic, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa served as an excellent exemplar for the health sector response in CHEs.