I'm a new nurse, have been working in the ER for 5 months now (and loving it!).
Last night I offered to take a pt up to the floor for another nurse. Dx: viral meningitis (strange to already have that dx in the ER, aren't you supposed to wait till cultures come back?). Anyway, MD was confident it was viral. On the floor I am greeted by a nurse and tech wearing droplet precaution masks; both are looking at me like I'm crazy. I say, "hey guys, it's viral." "Yeah, that's droplet precautions." "I'm pretty sure it's standard." "No, he should be wearing a mask." I told them CDC recommends standard (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/pdf/guidelines/Isolation2007_appendixA.pdf) but they told me they had a sheet somewhere saying it was droplet because if the patient sneezes they can transmit the virus. When I came back down to the ER everyone agreed it's standard... but these floor nurses make me question it.
So my question is: viral meningitis - standard or droplet?
Another source: http://info.med.yale.edu/ynhh/infection/dislist/intro.html. But maybe there's new research out?
On another note - I had one of those nights where one patient was screaming bloody murder at me for touching the tape around her IV and wouldn't let me do anything unless a doctor ok'd it (lady, I know what phlebitis looks like, I don't need an MD to tell me), and another ask if a doctor could put in her IV bc I missed the first try... I guess it was just one of those nights. I'm still developing my thick skin