MRSA and having a sick child at home...

[SoulShine75]

Hello all. I just graduated nursing school in December and as many of you may already know, my 4 yr old son was dx with ALL leukemia in August. He is in remission, but still very vulnerable and is receiving chemo currently and will be for the next few years (protocol). Here are my concerns...I have taken care of MANY pt's with MRSA and I am extra, specially careful, almost to the point of obsessing about my hand hygeine and keeping my clothing and shoes out of contact with my kids. I clean the toilet seat with antibacterial wipes after every use, I won't kiss my son on the mouth "just incase" and I make certain to always wash my towels and scrubs in hot water. I want to love him and give him affection, but I'm afraid I may give him some funk I picked up at work. I see nurses all the time use the poorest hygiene practices (opening doors with their dirty gloves etc...) Eww. Sigh. I'm just so worried about bringing this home to him, because as we all know it's everywhere, even in rooms that don't have those "cute" little stops signs on the door! :angryfire

I am not asking for medical advice, but am wondering how many of you have contracted it and given it to your children or someone else? Is there anyone else out there who have an immuno-suppressed child at home like me who also works in healthcare? I'm about to take my boards in late Feb, early March and am truly concerned if I should even continue. I've wanted this for...well, EVER! I would gladly give it up for my son's best interets...I guess I'm just concerned and venting. Am I crazy?

Any ideas, advice is welcome. I'm very anxious about it.

Thanks in advance.

[sharlynn]

I don't know of anyone who has contracted it or taken it home to their children. I do know many nurses who change clothes before entering the house when possible (laundry room off off garage or enclosed service porch) to avoid it, and take a shower immediately.

Best of luck to you and your child!

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Soulshine - I am so sorry for the added stress your son's illness has caused. However, can you talk to infection control and perhaps his oncologist to find out what the most effective ways of not bringing germs home are?

Personally, I think you are doing the right things - except that you can kiss you sweet little son! He is a lucky little boy to have such a good Mom. You take care.

[LiverpoolJane]

In the UK MRSA has been in the news headlines for the last few years and the press attention is such that hospitals here are under the spotlight as to how they are going to reduce their incidents.

Last year the governements target was 60% reduction - I don't think it was achieved by many (if any at all) but on my ward we exceeded this target.

The biggest impact is through the simplest things we all can do - hand hygiene - not wearing jewelery in work - not having false nails or nail varnish on - hair tied up - changing your uniform before leaving work.

Also if you would consider complementary therapies - I have read that tea tree oil is effective against MRSA.

[EmmaG, RN]

The biggest impact is through the simplest things we all can do - hand hygiene - not wearing jewelery in work - not having false nails or nail varnish on - hair tied up - changing your uniform before leaving work.

Excellent advice. I also change shoes and leave all my pens, lights, scissors, etc.

[jackson145]

When I worked in the ED a few of the RN's and myself brought it home to our kids. One gal's son scratched at skeeter bites and got them infected with MRSA. My daughter, who is a nervous picker, got MRSA in spots on her face and arms that she dug at.

We had one nurse with a very sick adult daughter who had a rare cancer. She was very vigilant about going home clean and she used a face mask and gown even the patient wasn't isolation. If they felt offended, she explained her situation at home. Not a single patient ever had a complaint after hearing her reason for the extra precautions!

Her daughter never caught anything from Mom's work.

[Simplepleasures]

So would it be safe to say that if a nurse has colonized MRSA in nares, they would not be able to spread it to a healthy child in their household ?Any infection control nurses?

[LiverpoolJane]

So would it be safe to say that if a nurse has colonized MRSA in nares, they would not be able to spread it to a healthy child in their household ?Any infection control nurses?

I'm not an infection control nurse but the following sites would suggest that unless you had some sort of cough / cold there seems little chance. In saying that there doesn't appear to be any info on direct close physical contact eg kissing?

Droplet Precautions: Place on droplet precautions only if patient is diagnosed with MRSA pneumonia.

http://epitool.org/infectious_diseases/mrsa.htm

"MRSA may be aerosolized in the droplet nuclei from a coughing resident or from a ventilator exhaust port of an intubated resident who has MRSA in his or her sputum. The organism may also be aerosolized during the irrigation of a wound containing MRSA. However, the role of aerosolization in the transmission of MRSA is not known."

http://edcp.org/guidelines/mrsa.html

[SoulShine75]

Thank you all SO much for replying. I guess I have caught a case of the 'paranoias'. I'm taking every precaution to avoid bringing anything home, but having a child with cancer makes me extra nervous about it. I'm working on a general surgery floor right now and would like to eventually transfer to a floor with less "sick" people such as post-partum or something to avoid as much illness as possible. It's not what I want to do persay, but I may have to if it means keeping him healthy. It's just not a good time for me to be a nurse , but because of our financial situation it's a must at this time.

I will talk to his Oncologist Monday and see what he thinks and recommends. Hopefully it will give me some peace of mind.

Thanks again.