mrsa swabbing

[Sun*shine]

just out of general interest really, does anyones occupational health do swabs for staff to check for mrsa? can they be done on request or anything.

just i was in hospital for an operation so i had swabs done, and they found i had mrsa up my nose..which didn't shock me as i've never been tested and had two years on the wards now. and i'm wondering how long i've been barrier nursing patients while being a carrier of it myself

[danissa, LPN, LVN]

wow, i think I only remember one time, around 3 years ago, when we had a major outbreak and staff were swabbed. other than that, no, never.

Parents in our NICU are never swabbed either!

[AdelaideChic]

Danissa - when those staff were swabbed, what was the outcome? How did it affect postive results employment? Was it mandatory?

I once asked where I work (in Aust) if they ever swabbed the staff (I was a student at the time) and the staff laughed and said nope, we would all have it. However, if we all have it, and are passing it on, we wouldnt get negative results on patients i guess. Handwashing is so important.

When i was in a cardiac recovery area, a few times the staff on the admitting ward forgot to check the results, and patients would be operated on and admitted to the recovery unit before their positive result was found. I was very concerned that it meant i had become a carrier.

Minnie Mouse - were you treated at your place of employment? Were you required to tell your employer?

Isnt something like 80% of the community anyway, tis crazy.

[oreo75]

wow, i think I only remember one time, around 3 years ago, when we had a major outbreak and staff were swabbed. other than that, no, never.

Parents in our NICU are never swabbed either!

Staff would only be swabbed at outbreak when the outbreak is caused by a single strain. When a patient is swabbed, any MRSA positive result is then sent away for grouping as usually when 2 patients on a ward are MRSA positive they usually have 2 different strains.

As for the staff being swabbed, there have been trials were staff were swabbed & they showed no higher rates than the general public (being approx 6%) & when they were they were still able to work & did the treatment. Usually if staff are swabbed they have to swabbed at the start of the shift otherwise they is a greater risk of them being positive but not being colonised or have the bacteriema but have transient which will be washed off when you next bath/ shower.

I'm currently working on a MRSA Cohort ward in the UK, & have to have intensive infection control training to work there, so my MRSA infection control knowledge is good.

[Sun*shine]

Danissa - when those staff were swabbed, what was the outcome? How did it affect postive results employment? Was it mandatory?

Minnie Mouse - were you treated at your place of employment? Were you required to tell your employer?

Isnt something like 80% of the community anyway, tis crazy.

i was swabbed and treated through the hospital i went to for my operation, not through work. they only swabbed me before I came into the hospital because of my profession. I've got to contact the infection control nurse at my work to let her know the situation. my next placement isn't until Novemeber though so plenty time to get it sorted !!

the staff where I had my operation told me that if a patient is swabbed while in hospital and are positive for mrsa, then any staff member who has had contact with them has to be swabbed to see if any of them perhaps passed it on.