Can nurses with MRSA work?

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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!!!!

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.

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.

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.

The problems with MRSA colonized and/or infected Nurses or HCWs.

1. you can spread disease with either condition

2. you don't have infected family members but are constantly exposed to MRSA on your job, yet your employers deny workmans comp for missed work and treatment of MRSA.

3. Ignoring MRSA will not make it go away. You should report your MRSA to your hospital IC department. Refusing to be screened will not help you or your patients.

4. Fight for better prevention of MRSA in your facilities in the form of Active Detection and Isolation. Rapid MRSA screening will allow early or immediate diagnosis of colonization and Isolation and contact precautions can be enacted right away... meaning fewer unprotected exposures for HCWs.

If you are a HcW...and need surgery, DEMAND a screening. If you won't do that, then get your doctor to prescribe decolonization (mupirocin in the nares for 5 days and chlorhexidine showers prior to surgery). You still will not know if you are colonized, so the appropriate preoperative antibiotics may not be used.

And finally, never ignore precautions and/handwashing.