MRSA in sputum and open door?

I have cared for respiratory MRSA patients and been a respiratory MRSA patient myself (no I didn't get it from work I am not inept). In answer to the question "does it colonize" yes it does. An infectious disease specialist will would likely tell you that once a patient has a history of MRSA they should always be considered colonized. As for the airborne precautions my understanding is they are unnecessary. Any patient with MRSA infection should be under droplet precautions regardless of the system/location of infection -- this is because the likely-hood of nasal coloniztion is extremely high even if the infection being treated is limited to a wound (yes I know it is hot and uncomfortable under the mask and all that) -- some people would probably debate that and that is fine with me.

I certainly have never read about the door needing to be closed yet I know this comes up all the time. I was given an answer about the closed door issue once by a colleague. She said it was to prevent people from just waltzing in the room (as visitors often do) without donning the appropriate garb. Then she laughed and said people ignore closed doors with a big sign on it saying "all visitors report to the nurse before entering".

If you have never been in isolation of any kind I can tell you that it is bloody awful, lonely and boring. I know an open door doesn't fix that but at least you can hear noises of other living beings.

Given that we should no longer expect MRSA free facilities I am wiling to bet that every facility now has a written protocol -- of course that would mean finding a regular staff member who had a clue where it was.

The CDC websites are great for this subject.

Maybe my handle should be Typhoid Mary