How to deal with MRSA patients?

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Hi, I graduated last year from school...From that time, I seen quite a few patients with MRSA...Like many CNAs and other staff dont even know sometimes that patients have the disease..Most of the staff acted normal and just wore gloves and then good handwashing...

I have to care for a patient that has MRSA..He is infected with signs and symptoms of MRSA..His skin is in bad shape and has many dressings on him because of the disease..

If you were in my position what would you do?

tazzi,

when writing, writers must consider their audience and how they will take your words. on the other hand, the reader also must consider where the writer is coming from. languages are complex - words can have many meanings, making it difficult to communicate even in the same language.

i indicated that i was viewing your words from a scientific and medical perspective. in science, the meaning of theory is very different from the meaning that the general public uses (and which you explain that you were using). i was reading the words you were typing and because this is a board that is related to healthcare (and likely because i taking some science classes now), i put on my scientific mindset when reading it.

i do think it's important for us to use scientific methods that include evidence as we explore healthcare issues together. in addition, evidence enables us to disprove conjecture that is often harmful to patients (e.g., sans scientific methodology, we would not truly understand the true root cause of pid, etc.)

check out this description of the word "theory" from wikipedia:

"the word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion.

in common usage, people often use the word theory to signify a conjecture, an opinion, or a speculation. in this usage, a theory is not necessarily based on facts; in other words, it is not required to be consistent with true descriptions of reality. true descriptions of reality are more reflectively understood as statements which would be true independently of what people think about them. in this usage, the word is synonymous with hypothesis.

in science, a theory is a mathematical or logical explanation, or a testable model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation. it follows from this that for scientists "theory" and "fact" do not necessarily stand in opposition. for example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theories commonly used to describe and explain this behaviour are newton's theory of universal gravitation (see also gravitation), and general relativity."

i've got homework to do now... and yes, it includes science... :)

tazzi - i don't mean to make you angry... i am just trying to explain what i meant. i think we had a difference of the meaning behind the words. --i often enjoy your informative and thoughtful posts. :)

why is nobody reading the words i type?????

"theory" is an unproven statement, belief, whatever you want to call it. it has not been proven. it does not mean that it's been accepted as fact.

i did not say that 99.9% of the population has mrsa on their skin. i said: "again, i never said that it is a fact that mrsa is definitely a normal skin flora. i said that there is a theory about this. is it something that we grow naturally? no. is it something that 99.9% of the population walks around with on their skin and most never know it? very possibly. "

before you believe so heavily in fact and refuse to consider that a theory just might be correct, remember that several years ago it was believed that homosexuality was a choice. remember that every woman who had pid was considered a whore, or her partner had slept around and given it to her. remember that doctors believed that every baby with failure to thrive was being neglected by the parents, that it couldn't possibly be physiological. all of these also had theories that were later proven to be fact: homosexuality is not a choice, it's how you are born. pid is not just an std. ftt can indeed have a physiological reason, not just neglect.

okay...one more definition and back to homework. --this is per science only.

http://physics.ucr.edu/~wudka/physics7/notes_www/node7.html

"what is the difference between a fact, a theory and a hypothesis?

"in popular usage, a theory is just a vague and fuzzy sort of fact and a hypothesis is often used as a fancy synonym to `guess.' but to a scientist a theory is a conceptual framework that explains existing observations and predicts new ones.

...

a hypothesis is a working assumption. typically, a scientist devises a hypothesis and then sees if it "holds water'' by testing it against available data (obtained from previous experiments and observations). if the hypothesis does hold water, the scientist declares it to be a theory."

Specializes in Cardiac.

Guys, to sum it up for everyone, this is Bala shark we are talking about here.

That's really the only issue. Those who are familiar with him and his stories, and those that aren't.

You can quote study after study, after study. But someone who has worked in a nursing home for over a year really SHOULD KNOW BETTER by now.

This is typical....

Oh, and Tazzi----I am reading your words!!!

Guys, to sum it up for everyone, this is Bala shark we are talking about here.

That's really the only issue. Those who are familiar with him and his stories, and those that aren't.

You can quote study after study, after study. But someone who has worked in a nursing home for over a year really SHOULD KNOW BETTER by now.

This is typical....

Oh, and Tazzi----I am reading your words!!!

THANK YOU!!!! I wuz beginning to think I studied nursing on Mars or something.......

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