[luvschoolnursing]

Hmmm...I'm gonna print that article and hang it in my office.

I had a girl come in a couple days ago with a fairly new tongue piercing c/o pain, still bleeding, swelling. Asked if I thought she should take it out. I told her my advice would be to take it out even if she had none of those symptoms! (I'm not a big tongue piercing fan) She did take it out though, and I advised her of s/s infection and to see her Dr. if no improvement. So many of the kids I see get their piercings "over the weekend" Who knows where they are getting them done.

[UCME2P]

Originally Posted by morte

hmmm i think there was some info on diabetics self inj at home and the alcohol preps didnt seem to make a difference....and i have heard that it doesnt seem to do much....but i still do it,lol

I remember that from about 6 yrs ago. I believe it was results of some nursing studies on diabetics and insulin injections. I had been working in home health at the time and there was some confusion about it. We were told by our PICC Line certified nurse that all the alcohol wipe did was defat the skin anyway. She was taught to use betadine. However, at that time MRSA was just beginning. The first story in the news was 2 infants in a hospital PICCU had developed MRSA and they tried to blame long fingernails. They never did determine if the babies gave it to the nurses or vice versa. Now we know better. Had they swabbed the nares of both mothers they may have blamed that on the nurses too.What first aid kit has a needle in it anyway? The kid was probably already colonized. They may have let it go too far before going to the doctor. I've seen that happen.

[fenders]

there's something about having non health care eduated tatooed scruffy individuals piercing your body. There's a reason we have all that equipment in the hospital.

I have also heard about some studies saying that alcohol wipes are not effective but we saw some of the infections first hand with our own eyes in the lab. Mind you the pt we had were usually immunocompromised, elderly or more susceptible. However the cases or mrsa they found in the gym with the young healthy individuals with cuts ending up in the icu are quite scarey.

I would still use the alcohol wipe and would ensure a health care staff would use it on myself as well.

[Andreas]

I don't know to what extent tattoo and piercing parlors are regulated from state to state, if they have to be licensed and inspected by the state to stay open. That said, many tattoos and piercings are done simply by buddies who have their own tattoo kit or are willing to pierce body parts, under less-than-sanitary, let alone sterile, conditions. That is why the FDA mandates a year-long waiting period for blood/plasma donors who have new tattoos or piercings. The FDA's major concern with this is actually hepatitis, but MRSA is a valid concern too. I myself was once treated for a MRSA skin infection and was close to sepsis from MRSA, years ago. I didn't even have any open cuts; I had a sweat gland which became infected.

[fer.smith]

Not too long ago, I had a younger man as a patient - he tested positive for MRSA after getting a new tattoo. What is not known is if the equipment used was dirty, if a dirty razor was used to shave the body hair from the area where he got the tattoo, or if he had come in contact with MRSA previously and this just allowed the infection to grow. Regardless, it is frightening. I think as tattoos become more and more common, we may be seeing more and more of this type of incident.

[LuvMyGamecocks]

I used to roll my eyes at being one of the last 2 states in the US to outlaw tattooing...I am grateful that I can now get a tattoo in my home state AND that licensing requirements are so strict (to include facility inspections and several health education classes).

http://www.scdhec.net/health/licen/tattoo.htm

[Andreas]

Originally Posted by LuvMyGamecocks

I used to roll my eyes at being one of the last 2 states in the US to outlaw tattooing...I am grateful that I can now get a tattoo in my home state AND that licensing requirements are so strict (to include facility inspections and several health education classes).

http://www.scdhec.net/health/licen/tattoo.htm

My state was the other one. Tattooing just became legal in Oklahoma last year. But most people get tattoos from their buddies that have home tattooing kits anyway.

[wrennightwind]

Originally Posted by fenders

.

I think tattoo artists should be certified to puncture holes in people so that they have a basic understanding of infection control and proper prepping procedures.

Tattoo artists (at least here in Vermont) have to take a blood-born Pathogens and infection control course as well as complete a thousand hours of training with another lisncenced tattooist. Hopefully they'll have learned about prepping by then. This kid punctured himself. Poor kid, that's a tough way to learn a lesson about leaving things to those trained to do them. I can't even imagine how I'd feel if it were my kid...

[bassandtea]

If tattoos and piercings are done in a good place there shouldn't be any problems. The one thing I tell anybody who is getting pierced or tattooed is to read up on it and to question the safety precautions that are used by the place/people doing the piercing or tattoo.

I know more about tattooing myself and know that any decent place should have autoclave sterilisation of reusable equipment, new needles should be used for each person. The tattooist that has done most of my work cleans all surfaces down in front of you and covers every surface before starting. Additionally he pours the ink into disposable containers and opens the needles at the start of the session. If somebody is getting a tattoo or a piercing and something similar doesn't happen then I would tell them to run, not walk from the establishment.

[Balder_LPN]

Originally Posted by onmyway2oncology

Does someone in his family have MRSA? Did the first aid kit belong to someone else? I doubt that the staph just "existed" on the needle. Maybe the needle was being shared amoung others? Very sad.

Research shows that about 80% of the population is colonised with Staph at any time. as another poster says it is "good" bacteria, that is to say that your body has many defenses against staph and it can outcompete other more harmful bacteria on your skin. I can't remember the exact number, but about 5% (i think) of those staphs are MRSA, so extrapolating the numbers that means about 1 out of 25 people are colonised (bacteria present, no infection) at any one time (think about that next time you get someone from the waiting room, or even just get change from a clerk). the piercing (or other compromised skin integrity) provides a route of infection for the bacteria.

Originally Posted by morte

hmmm i think there was some info on diabetics self inj at home and the alcohol preps didnt seem to make a difference....and i have heard that it doesnt seem to do much....but i still do it,lol

I have not reviewed the literature my self, but my intructors ALL said (im a new grad) that current research shows no change in infection risk to use alcohol prep for insulin injections. the local hospital and the LTC fac's in the area do not prep for insulin injections. Also the repeated use of alcohol will dry the skin and create more risk of compromising skin integrity.

BTW, we saw a nurse injecting insulin through a pt's clothes and after a bit of research on our part and our instructors, this is becoming an accepted practice also. several studies support that there is no increased risk of infection from this practice. crazy, but true.