MRSA in sputum and open door?

[NurseyTonyaLPN]

I'm an agency nurse and was working in a LTC facility. One of the residents (who just entered this facility from the hospital) had an airborne precaution sign and the offgoing nurse asked another nurse to take this patient b/c she had contact and airborne precautions. She said the airborne prec was for MRSA in the sputum. Another nurse took her, but she told me it wasn't really airborne precautions because the lady was not coughing, it is in her sputum and since she's not coughing the airborne precautions aren't really supposed to be in play, but if she starts coughing, then they are. OOOOOKKKKKKAAAAAYYYYYYY. So I go about my work. The CNA left this lady's door wide open and I went to close it. Resident said please don't close the door. I explained that b/c of her respiratory infection that it needed to be closed. Well the nurse that took over for me, told me in not a mean, but kind of condescending way that she told me it was not really supposed to be resp isolation and that she could have her door open b/c she was lonely. Even if the isolation DID only matter if she was coughing, who's to say she doesn't have a coughing fit with the door wide open spreading her germs into the hall to share with all the residents and staff? Is anybody with me or am I just being paranoid? I feel like as a lowly agency nurse I have no say so when it comes to the staff nurses who know better than me (even though this resident was new, not one they'd known forever).

[Bug Out, BSN]

Contact...droplet...either way the door does not need to be closed.

To the OP on the MDs order to place the pt on "Airborne Precautions" it is most likely because the Nurse who called him asked for airborne instead of droplet or contact.

Either that or the MD really doesn't care about the specifics...airborne/droplet sometimes means the same thing to some MDs.

Hard to say.