My mother-in-law is in the hospital with a MRSA infection. What can I expect the nursing care to be for her condition?
Sincerely,
~Staying Informed in Indiana
Dear Staying,
It is great to hear that you are getting informed about what the nursing staff should be doing to help your mother-in-law as she fights this infection.
- Upon admission to the hospital patients who are suspected to have MRSA are tested for the bacteria. The CDC does not recommend routine testing for all patients, just those who are suspected to harbor the bacteria. Suspected individuals would include patients of long-term care facilities, jails, homeless, or persons exhibiting symptoms of MRSA.
- A culture of the inside of the nose (nares) and another site, usually the groin or underarm, is taken and grown in the laboratory. If it comes back positive ...
- MRSA patients will be placed in either a private room, or with patient who also has a MRSA infection, this is call cohorting. This will ensure that patients who are negative for MRSA do not become colonized/infected.
All staff and guests will have to wear special personal protective equipment (PPE) when entering the room of a patient with MRSA. This ensures that not only are staff and guests protecting themselves, but they are also preventing the spread of MRSA to other patients.
Contact Precautions Sign
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| Image Source http://infectionpreventionuncc.weebly.com/transmission-based-isolation-precautions.html |
When entering the room of MRSA patient
- Sanitize hands
- Put on gown
- Put on gloves
When leaving the room
- Take off gloves
- Take off gown
- Sanitize or wash hands
For more information check out the CDC.
References
The MRSA Interagency Advisory Committee, Connecticut Department of Public Health. (1993). Guidelines for management of patients with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus in acute care hospitals and long term care facilities. Retreived from http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/infectious_diseases/pdf_forms_/mrsa_guidelines[1].pdf.
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