Is your hospital discontinuing isolation precautions?

[gypsyd8]

sorry i posted this elsewhere but i think this is a better forum

i have a general question related to what i thought were standards of care. the hospital i work for has recently adopted a new wonder soap called steiros, and the powers that be have decided that we no longer have to place patients who have a history of mrsa or vre in contact isolation. as a matter of fact, since the advent of the special soap we no longer isolate patients who are currently infected with mrsa or vre. we can even place them in semi-private rooms with post op patients. i have looked this soap up, checked out ther website, and even done a search of my university's library databases. i cannot find anything about a soap that eliminates the need to isolate patients with mrsa and vre. has anyone else heard of this?

http://www.steiros.com/index.html

http://stores.germcure.com/storefront.bok

btw- the active ingredient is benzalkonium chloride, not chlorhexidine.

[GRUNGE]

This is absolutly rediculous. You guys are not washing your cloths in that soap after handleing patients. Not placing patients with mrsa or vre puts the rest of your patients and you at risk. Gown and gloves needs to be worn as per contact precautions. I dont think the hospital will pass joint commision inspection with a policy like that.

[HamsterRN, ADN, RN]

That's one magical soap.

[GoECU]

Wow, that is crazy!

[annacnatorn]

Hay, let us know which Hospital you work in so we can stay away.....They are crazy.

They definitely won't pass any survey. Post op in the same room as MRSA/VRE...NOT.

[fsutallyrn]

Have not heard of this. Interesting!

[Simply Complicated]

I did work at one hospital a couple years ago that was discontinuing isolating for MRSA, because they said it was so rampant, and most people carried it anyways, that it wasn't necessary to isolate anymore. They weren't putting them in with post op patients, but they were not requiring contact precautions anymore either.

I was there on a travel assignment, so couldn't tell you if they still practice that theory or not.

[brownbook]

There is an allnurses specialty section for infection control. Perhaps you could post your question there? I have no idea if what your hospital is doing is safe. Infection control, bacterias, viruses, etc. are extremely complex. Hospitals need to be cautious, but need to base isolation precautions on evidence based facts.

I remember the fear of AIDS, gowning up like an astronaut (slight exaggeration), going into the patients room with much trepidation, being afraid and unable to offer him basic human contact and kindness, seeing his poor mother sitting in the corner. (Thinking why am I all gowned and gloved and she doesn't need to be?) My point is isolating patients is hard on them and the staff. The less isolation we can safely do the better. Lets base it on science, not anecdotal evidence or fears.

[rosey2007]

I used to work in LTC and they also also started to put mrsa patients in semi private rooms. I worked as a CNA and most of the nurses would not even tell us which patients were infected with it . There was no sign on the door or anything. Sometimes we would luck out because they would have masks or gowns sitting in front of the resident's room. Anyway, I could not believe that they would put a mrsa patient in with someone who did not have. As far as the nurses telling me the resident was infectious, I think that it was the LTC center I worked at. They had horrible communication skills.

[SaltyNurse]

Good grief! Are there any studies to demonstrate that this "miracle" soap is more efficacious than plain soap? And does it magically shield the areas of your body that you don't suds up with between patients (aka your scrubs?) It sounds very silly. However, I would be curious to know if any (solid) research has been published that examines the efficacy of the disposable gown.

[gypsyd8]

Good grief! Are there any studies to demonstrate that this "miracle" soap is more efficacious than plain soap? And does it magically shield the areas of your body that you don't suds up with between patients (aka your scrubs?) It sounds very silly. However, I would be curious to know if any (solid) research has been published that examines the efficacy of the disposable gown.

I have been looking for any studies done on the active ingredient and found nothing. that is why I posted here.

[selfvalidating]

Aren't you still practicing STANDARD PRECAUTIONS for all patients???

If the patients are bathed and kept clean then that is abundantly documented as the ideal standard of care. A product that is even more effective at killing MRSA, VRE, etc can only enhance that.