Ebola preparedness.

It’s a phrase we’ve heard a lot lately, from the mouths of politicians, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials, hospital staff and talking heads, but no one seems to agree about whether or not we actually are, in fact, prepared should Ebola cases emerge in communities across the country.

State officials (particularly those whose seats are up for grabs on Nov. 4) tend to claim that the proper measures are in place should an Ebola patient be admitted to a hospital in their area, but the health care workers who will actually be handling these patients are far less confident.

According to a new survey of 1,039 infection experts at U.S. hospitals, only 6 percent feel “well-prepared” to receive a patient with a confirmed case of the Ebola virus. The survey, which was conducted by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), polled nurses, physicians, public health professionals, epidemiologists and medical technologists who specialize in infection prevention—most of whom work in the kinds of acute care settings where an Ebola patient would be cared for.

"How prepared is your facility to receive a patient with the Ebola virus?" Create Infographics How We Know APIC Ebola Readiness Survey

The good news is that only 5 percent of respondents said they are not at all prepared to received an Ebola patient, while the majority (40 percent) feel they are somewhere in the middle.

The problem is “somewhere in the middle” is probably not going to cut it when it comes to protecting health care workers and other patients. This was evident when two nurses who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan at Dallas’ Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital were infected with Ebola because of insufficient hospital protocol.

The survey also found that 81 percent of respondents had initiated some form of Ebola training for their hospital staff, which signals that it’s not that hospitals aren’t taking initiative, but they are lacking adequate information as to how best to respond.

Of the specific areas where infection experts feel further federal guidelines are required, over 50 percent see a need for better waste removal and waste handling protocols, as well as clarification on the safest ways to put on and take off protective gear. Additionally, over 40 percent of the participants feel that more staffing is needed, both to care for potential Ebola patients and to train hospital personnel to safely administer that care.

Infection Prevention Experts' Concerns About Ebola Preparedness at U.S. Hospitals Create Infographics How We Know APIC Ebola Readiness Survey

“We know that many hospitals do not have enough staff dedicated to infection prevention and control,” says APIC President Jennie Mayfield, BSN, MPH, CIC. “Facilities that are inadequately staffed to begin with are stretched beyond capacity at a time like this. The current crisis demonstrates our lack of surge capacity and should concern everyone.”

National Nurses United (NNU) echoed Mayfield’s sentiment last week in a testimony before Congress, calling for better preparedness and a mandate that would require all hospitals to follow federally outlined protocols to protect health care workers and patients.

“We know these hospitals,” said RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of NNU, which represents 185,000 registered nurses, in a press release. “Their priority is not optimal Ebola preparedness, it is protecting their budgetary goals and profit margins.”

A member of Bellevue Hospital in New York City wears protective clothing during a demonstration on how they would receive a suspected Ebola patient. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

In response to the survey, APIC is calling on health care facilities to review their infection prevention programs by ensuring that they have adequate personnel to train health care workers and that health care workers are taught and drilled until they demonstrate proficiency in infection safety protocols. They are also recommending that facilities invest in infection tracking and monitoring technology.

“The Ebola outbreak illustrates why facility-wide infection prevention programs are critical and require adequately trained, staffed, and resourced infection control departments,” says Katrina Crist, APIC’s CEO. “The unique skill set of the infection preventionist is needed to get out in front of this outbreak and prevent the next public health issue from escalating to a crisis.”