ORSA Transmission? Help!

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. OCD or Real concern?

    • 2
      Don't worry about it
    • 0
      Call HazMat

2 members have participated

I recently cared for an infant w ORSA in a wound. In an effort to save said desaturating baby I entered his isolette w/o gowning. My uniform came into contact w open isollette door. I immediately washed my hands but is it likely that I could have spread the germ from my "contaminated?" uniform top to any surfaces I touched on my way home (car doors, steering wheel, then from there so & so on)? I have little ones & fear their contact w super bug. OCD or real concern??

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Specializes in Thoracic Cardiovasc ICU Med-Surg.

ORSA? Was this in 1998? (We call it MRSA nowadays :) ) Also, you're fine. IF you have been a nurse for a while I GUARANTEE you probably are colonized with mrsa. I try not to think about it too hard. I just know there's been an awful lot of patients I cared for for WEEKS and then suddenly they caught the MRSA in their nares or somewhere.

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Are you saying that you think You may have spread MRSA to your patients? That is my fear. I don't want to infect my toddler. Is this likely? Do I need to call a HazMat team to decontaminate my home? :D :down:

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.
Environmental Cleaning | Community | MRSA | CDC
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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

You can prevent MRSA from spreading as long as you always carefully follow all of the isolation precautions and EVERYBODY ELSE always does the same! Yeah, that's not going to happen. It only take one careless person to spread it to the computer keyboards, the nurse's station, other patient rooms, etc.

I worked in a home where the child had MRSA and Pseudomonas. Her mom would suction her without wearing gloves, and without washing her hands afterward. Everything in that home that mom touched was contaminated. Everything.

Hand washing is your friend. And keep your hands away from your face. Hospitals are very dirty places, and MRSA is not the only nasty bug out there.

When I get home from work, at the minimum, I change clothes and wash my face, hands, and arms. Clothes go right into the laundry basket.

Shoes are the dirtiest things you will bring home. You say you have a toddler. He should not have access to the shoes that you wear at work. I know some nurses who take off their shoes before coming inside their house.

On the bright side, if you have a normal immune system, you should be able to shake off any infections.

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Specializes in Thoracic Cardiovasc ICU Med-Surg.

NO I don't think I have spread MRSA to my patients. I gel in and out religiously as well as wearing gloves and iso gear when called for. I am saying they have it when they come in the hospital, but nobody notices until it becomes a problem. It's not just localized to hospitals anymore. MRSA is found everywhere-locker rooms and gyms, places where people congregate, basically everywhere.

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