How infectious is MRSA really??

[Epona]

Hi. I am a RN student getting ready to start PEDS clincials next week. I was told the section of the hosptial we will be doing rotations in has MANY cases of MRSA....like every other room. I need some sound advice here. I am a heart patient and hypokalemic. I take beta blockers and KCL regularly everyday. If I get sick, or have my period, for example.... my heart will sick beats, beats really fast, etc. So I do my best to stay pretty healthy. And for the most part, my heart does Ok. Now... does anyone know how contagious MRSA really is AND does anyone know how it may affect the heart (if one gets sick with it)?? I am thinking about telling my PEDS teacher that I can do a few MRSA rooms and pull some weight as that is only fair, HOWEVER, I do not want to do room after room of MRSA patients as I feel that my jeopardize my health. Do you think I have a right to say this?? Am I being wimpy here?? I will do some MRSA rooms, but just feel that taking care of MRSA patient after MRSA patient may jeopardize my health as if I get sick from it, it may put me in a hairy situation (and some of you are probably thinking.... WHY did you want to go into Nursing... for a LOT of different reasons, but I mostly want to work in my heart doc's office or do teaching.... NOT floor work). Anyway, I am seeing my clincial teacher tomorrow... she knows I have a heart condition... should I mention how I feel about doing lots of MRSA patients??? This may sound weird, but I am just not sure what to do... I want to do well in clincial, but don't want to jeopardize my health. I am not your average superwoman nursing student (due to my health):) Although, I do have a 3.7 average and do enjoy my studies. I just have to be careful. Your advice is really appreciated!!

THANK YOU!!!

[MIA-RN]

the truth is that MRSA is everywhere. Staph is everywhere including on us. Its when it gets inside that it causes trouble. As someone pointed out, we are probably at more risk at Walmart or the grocery store than we are in the hospital because at least we have gloves and hand gel in the hospital! Remember, we are using precautions to prevent other patients from getting it, because the patients are the ones with the lowered immune functioning and/or wounds that are much more vulnerable to an invasion of MRSA than we, the healthcare providers, are.

Your own health issues need to be dealt with by your own doctor, and you should express your concerns with your medical team. No one here can advise on that specific topic.

I am more concerned that you are doing a PEDS rotation where most of the patients have MRSA.....is there an outbreak in your area?

[Epona]

Hi MIA-RN. No there is no outbreak. I am doing clinicals at a special childrens hospital and they care for very sick kids there. Our instructor told us that virtually every other room has a MRSA infected patient in it.

Nurs2be- good idea about the nasal swabbing. What is Neti pots by the way?? Thanks!

Also... I know you can only get MRSA if say you are treating someone who has it in a wound and it gets into a cut or wound you have... that I know. With the nares though, how is that transmitted?? If the person sneezes and you breathe it in?? I need some clarification on that??

MUCH THANKS!!! :) E

[getoverit, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Neti pots are small tea-pots, you can brew a herbal mixture and then you pour it into one nostril. The mix circulates up in your sinuses and then can drain out the other nostril.

My wife used to use one all the time, her stepmom is an FNP and would give it to her. I"ve never used one and to me it sounds like the prevention would be worse than the disease!

We have MRSA+ patients everyday. The patients with colonies in the nares are kept on standard droplet/contact precautions. My understanding is like you said, they could spread if you were sneezed on or used something that had been sneezed on. Good precautions and handwashing is your best protection against everything.

When I was in microbiology, my project was to culture various objects in the hospital. By FAR, the worst thing was the handgrips on wheelchairs. Even worse than the floor.

[nurz2be]

Nurs2be- good idea about the nasal swabbing. What is Neti pots by the way?? Thanks!

MUCH THANKS!!! :) E

THIS is a Neti Pot...You can get them at any drug store of box store like Wal-Mart in the Pharmacy Department.

It is a gravity pot that flushes out your frontal sinus cavity.

As far as MRSA in the nares.... Here are the concerns.... IF (it can and does happen) a vessel inside your nose ruptures, you scratch the inside of your nose (or a patient does) you now have an opening to your blood stream thus introducing MRSA into your system. Along with sneezing...it never fails that when we are gloved and ready our noses itch and or we need to sneeze...thus releasing those little monsters into patients rooms. The Petroleum stops that as well. By applying the Petroleum based products, it not only lubricates your nares, it also gives the germs a place to stick so that in case one of the above or something else causes an opening, it is less likely to enter the blood stream. You don't have to use a lot, just a tiny amount.

GOOD LUCK and really talk to your doc about your concerns.

[Epona]

Hi nurs2be. Can you just blow your nose after your shift to get the "bugs" vasoline out or is it better to use a Q-tip and swipe the nares out?? Also... I saw the picture of the Net pot. THANKS! But how exactly do you use it?? Thank you everyone for the tips on staying healthy and I do plan on seeing my doc. I am going to set up and appt. on Monday.

[Noryn]

Just remember there are different types of MRSA and you have staph on your body right now--it may even be MRSA. Community acquired does seem to be more infectious that hospital acquired MRSA.

I dont know of any research about using a NETI pot or vaseline in your nose. From my experience, God (whoever yours is) was pretty dang intelligent and our body is a work of wonder. I think you generally cause more harm than good when messing with it's protective mechanisms.

[nurz2be]

Hi nurs2be. Can you just blow your nose after your shift to get the "bugs" vasoline out or is it better to use a Q-tip and swipe the nares out?? Also... I saw the picture of the Net pot. THANKS! But how exactly do you use it?? Thank you everyone for the tips on staying healthy and I do plan on seeing my doc. I am going to set up and appt. on Monday.

We use Q-tips to unswab at the end of our clinical shifts. I use my Neti pot on the weekends. You put warm Salt water (VERY IMPORTANT IT IS SALT WATER) in the pot...some pots come with pre-filled packets. You lean over a sink area with your head up (So you don't feel like you are drowning..you won't drown) and you place the tip in one nostril and pour....it goes up that nostril into sinus cavity back out the other nostril...cleaning out the entire area....

MOST of them come with a flip out guide to show you how it's done. JUST REMEMBER NOT to BREATH in when you pour.... LOL I learned the hard way LOL. Like I do with everything else....

It has actually even helped with sinus symptoms I have from living on coastal Florida....

Like I said, you can find them at Wal-Mart, CVS, Eckerd, Walgreen's and places like that for 10-15 dollars. I have a plastic one but they make ceramic ones as well....

[chrisabraham]

While I am not a nurse and really only know as much about Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) as I have learned from working with the HAIWatch "not on my watch" program, I have come to the conclusion that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to MRSA:

MRSA is a member of the extremely common staph family of infections. In 2005, this "super bug"

• caused more than 94,000 life-threatening infections
  
  
• caused nearly 19,000 deaths in the United States alone
  
  

Of these infections, 85% were associated with healthcare settings and an additional 15% were acquired in the community. [

source

]

Egad! Well, the reason why I am here, to be honest, is because my client just launched an HAI-focused healthcare professionals-only resource called the HAI Watchdog Community and I was hoping to share it with folks in the healthcare community -- let me know if you're interested in learning more.