If the wound was amputated, is it still infected?

[mikeworksRN]

MRSA of the wound, the leg was amputated, so is the patient still in isolation? The wound is not there anymore. I'm pondering over this.

[leslie :-D]

it's going to depend on whether the infection was localized or systemic.

leslie

[workingharder]

From the title of the thread I was hoping for a philosophical question. Something along the lines of, "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it..."

[sapphire18]

Haha workingharder, me too!!

[MunoRN, RN]

I have worked at a facility where the rule was "once MRSA, always MRSA", including if the MRSA was in a toe wound where the toe and the rest of lower leg are no longer attached. The policy for getting MRSA contact precautions removed was that the patient had to have 2 negative wound swabs at least 1 month apart but not greater than 6 months apart, if the wound had healed (or was amputated) then it was not possible to get the precautions D/C'd since the swab had to be of "drainage".

I think this is an area where Nursing has fallen short in advocating for our patients. Infection Control is primarily concerned with infection control, they really don't focus much on patient care, which is why the negative effects of isolation on patient care and outcomes isn't really taken into account. As Nurses, I think we need to push for a better balance of infection control and patient care.