Blood, Bodily Fluids and Germs OH MY!

[Lisa, MA]

OK...so to what extreme do you go when your shift is done to eliminate taking anything home with you?

I am a bit OCD in this department. I change my shoes when I get to my car and only wear my "work shoes" for work. I don't want anything getting on my car carpet. Oh and I cover my car seat too on days that I work. When I get home my uniform goes directly into the washer and I hop in the shower. Unless I follow this routine I feel so gross!

[Baloney Amputation, BSN, LPN, RN]

I'm appalled when I see a 6 month old baby gnawing on the grocery cart handle that has 2 years worth of dried goo from other 6 month old babies while Mom is mesmerized by the National Enquirer!! --the drool, the snot, the squished Cheerio substance!

Stores around here have wipes located near the carts, though I'd say that if I saw all that stuff on the cart handle, you can bet that I'd pass it up and just use a different cart with a less crusty handle.

[seizureffect]

This was a topic in another discussion with some really good ideas also

Germ fatigue... - Nursing for Nurses

[wooh, BSN, RN]

I have to wonder, if you are lax with your personal cleanliness, what are you passing from patient to patient? Scary. It's no wonder things get spread thru a whole floor.

In our facility, if a patient has cdiff or MRSA, in addition to gowning, gloving and masking we have to wipe our shoes with disinfecting cloths before we leave the room and then wash our hands with actual soap and water....not the worthless foam that so many people think is sufficient to use between patients.

You mask for MRSA? Why don't you just get a hazmat suit to spend the day in?

It sounds like your MA education gave you just enough knowledge to be judgemental without any basis in reality.

[robby5313]

I went to one where I had to take microbiology, anatomy & physiology, and pathophysiology. We learned about this thing called "skin" which is a protective barrier between our body and the world. And if things get past that, we have this amazing thing called an "immune system."

Bwaahahahah! I usually change clothes when get home.....more for comfort than anything. And I wash my hands. But I wash my hands constantly anyway! I just don't get too obsessed about it. I just think that there are soooo many places in the public that you can pick up things that I am more likely to get sick from that! I read somewhere that 80% of shopping carts are contaminated with e-coli.....Gross!

[robby5313]

You mask for MRSA? Why don't you just get a hazmat suit to spend the day in?

It sounds like your MA education gave you just enough knowledge to be judgemental without any basis in reality.

At our facility we HAVE to mask, glove and gown to go into a MRSA room. You also cannot bring ANYTHING out of the room that has been in with the patient.....this includes your pen and notes! Then, when they leave, you have to spray the room down (every surface) and then leave it for 30 minutes.......ridiculousness. And it dosen't matter where they had the MRSA...it could have been a sore that has been healed for years....still have to take the precautions!

[coolpeach]

At my hospital we have to gown and glove for MRSA, or other contact isolation. We have a steth in the room. The thing I do not get is we carry our notes, pen etc in, and then carry them out. We have to so we can go to the station and chart those notes. The only other option would be to bring the chart into the room, but of course it would eventually have to be brought out.

In addition, we do not cover our shoes which we then walk out of the room, and into the hall, nurses station, and others rooms with. I just don't see the point of the gown unless your dealing with fluids because of the above.

Originally in the ER we would have patients who we would deal with for a few hours, and then find out they had TB, MRSA, VRE, Meningitis etc. The whole time we were dealing with them without contact precautions, and only wearing gloves when needed. We would take them up to their floor, and all the nurses would put on protective equipment before walking into the room where we stood next to the patient with nothing on, but our scrubs. I never caught anything so I kind of have a false sense of security now.