Can nurses with MRSA work?

[JennieO]

An RN friend I work with, was just diagnosed with MRSA from a nasal sore. Can she still work as an ICU RN? Can the hospital make her take a leave? She is debating whether or not to tell our employer. She has a mortgage and cannot afford to be out of work. Is it any of their business and what protections will she have (many of our pts. have MRSA and that is where she got it).

[AKAKatydid]

I worked with a friend that had MRSA. She was not only not allowed to work, but was also denied workman's comp. She was told that there was no way to "prove" that she received it at the hospital, vs out in the community.

Hospitals are not willing to risk the liability of a patient that tests positive MRSA, and claiming they got it from their nurse.

[racing-mom4, BSN, RN]

Funny how we test ALL of our patients for MRSA upon admission, yet they dont test us...I would be willing to bet if they tested the staff they would have to let half the staff go.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I think the nurse should ask her doctor and let him know what she does for a living.

[txnurse32]

I have heard of this before. The nurse who had it was placed on adm leave for 2 weeks with pay until her cultures came back negative. I guess it depends on the hospital.

[suanna]

It's purely hospital to hospital as to whether or not the nurse can work with an active MRSA infection. If you nasal swabbed 100% of the staff in a busy ICU I would bet 80% would come back positive for MRSA nasal cultures. I can't say I disagree with the "can't work" ruling with an active(open sore, drainage, fever.. ) infection, I wouldn't want her taking care of me with a high active bug count, but a lifetime ban seems unreasonable. MRSA is a treatable infection- just not an easy one.

[hisblueskies]

Racing-Mom 4 said

Funny how we test ALL of our patients for MRSA upon admission, yet they dont test us...I would be willing to bet if they tested the staff they would have to let half the staff go.

I was also told the same thing by a dermatologist when I had a skin infection on one of my fingernails. He said it was caused by frequent handwashing that left tiny cracks in the skin and then bacteria gets in. He was convinced that approximately 50% of the nursing staff is probably carrying staph in their fingers.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

just diagnosed with MRSA from a nasal sore...Is it any of their business and what protections will she have.

Yes it IS the facilites business if a staff person has an infection that can easily be transfered to patients, especially if open sore present. ICU patients are especially compromised. Collinization is different from ACTIVE infection with open sore.

Gee, remember that thing called a policy and procedure manual? Look up policy on Infection Control, what is reportable infection, how to contact infection control nurse. Preventing staff to patient infection transmission part of every state and JCAHO/ CHAP regulations, especially if reportable infection...also trumps needing to work for income. FT/PT staff should have PTO or vacation time to cover such events. Part time employees need to sock away monies for times they can't work.

If employee works with known active infection in early stage, transmits to pt, pt becomes ill and dies, infection gets tracked back to sick worker, family sues...it would be a lot more than 2 weeks pay....could lose license over: faillng to maintain nursing standards.

[miko014]

MRSA is EVERYWHERE. Otherwise, we wouldn't have all these community-acquired cases. Everyone has staph on their skin, and I'm willing to bet that most nurses have MRSA crawling on them. MRSA is pretty much an opportunistic bug anymoore - it's on us, but doesn't cause problems until it gets someplace where it can take hold and get past the immune system.

We recently started a policy where all ICU pts get nasal swabs for MRSA and are on isolation until the swabs come back negative. It's a huge pain in the butt for us because we have so many more people on isolation than usual. I spend more time with all that PPE than I do taking care of pts anymore. I can't even imagine how it must be for the poor ICU staff!!!!

Bottom line - MRSA is everywhere. If you have an active infection, especially an open sore, that is one thing. If you just have a positive nasal swab, you should be fine. Otherwise, we're all going to get fired!!!!

[falcon]

I also work with a nurse who found out she was MRSA pos with an active sore. She has not told our employer yet as she is also afraid of loosing her job. She is now looking for a non nursing related job in the nursing field so as not to infect patients. She is a great nurse with a lot of experiance. It's just too bad we as nurses have to be made to feel we will loose income because of MRSA.

[pinksugar]

MRSA is everywhere now (hospitals and communities). I don't know who the hospitals are expecting to take care of all of these patients if we all get let go. I am sure that a great many nurses and other health care workers are colonized with MRSA.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

MRSA can happen to any of us, even those who are maticulous handwashers.

I had MRSA in my arm from a bug bite and was able to return to work 48 hours after I started antiobidic treatment. He also treated my nares for 7 days. I'd missed a few more days than that because I was symptomatic with fevers for a couple of days. This is why I always save a lot of PTO time, never know when you're going to need it.

I'm not in the habit of reporting my personal illness to my employer and followed the advice of my physician. However, I in no way shape or form would want to do any harm to my patients who are in a compromised state to begin with.