Question @ working around sick patients?

[vastudent09]

I just have a general question;it may be kinda stupid but i'm a little worried.

ok, so i work in the ICU/SDU as a nursing care partner. SO the patients I am around are usually pretty sick and need complete care most of the time. Many of my patients have c.diff and other germs to where they are on contact precautions. I am around these patients giving them complete care, touching them, bathing them, ect. in the past I have always gotten sick very easisly and often. Is there a liklyhood that I could or will catch any of these things? Am I going to get sick being around so many other sick people?

[mystery2480]

Follow the mandated precautions... You should be fine. I understand how you feel though because while pregnant my first semester I came in contact with radiation, etc. I was scared to death everytime I walked into a room. I suppose it is something we must get used to and become very adament about using our precautions.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

No, not as long as you follow universal precautions. Make sure you wash your hands before leaving the hospital. Don't hang a uniform you wore to work in the closet with your other clothes if you are not going to wash it (why would you wear it another day?). Shower regularly. Eat right. A good immune system is the best defense against illness.

You should worry more about the people you come into contact with in public and touch casually without even realizing it. Who knows what kind of cooties they have? At least you know what your patients have got and can take precautions against.

I've worked where we had outbreaks of C-Diff and scabies among the residents. And, you should have seen the employees running to their docs with symptoms they had, many symptoms appearing only after hearing about the outbreaks. I worked with one nurse who was convinced she got TB from every respiratory patient we got that was tested until the final reports came back that the patient's were negative. Who had the problem, I wonder, the patients or her?

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Daytonite is correct - use universal precautions, wash your hands OFTEN and you will be fine.

[lovethepeople]

I had concerns about this when I first started nursing school but I quickly realized that:

1- the worry was more that we, as employees working with multiple patients, would spread infections to other patients

2- precautions are there for good reason so as others said, follow them!

3- I had to work on my own immune system (I was one of those people that used to get sick ALL the time until this past quarter). This largely meant working on my stress levels while continuing to eat right and hydrate

4- plenty of nurses work with isolation patients every day all across the country and for years and they are okay!

5- some nurses aren't as careful as others so take extra precautions when looking at charts, getting supplies, etc. Wash those hands while singing twinkle twinkle little star often!