OMG ?

I love the imagery of exploding patients -- there are some I WISH I could explode. As far as the MRSA -- no one even swabs me anymore when I'm admitted to the hospital -- they just assume I have it after four decades of working in hospitals.

7 minutes ago, Davey Do said:

We should all be allowed from time to time, Ruby Vee.

Awwww, you broke my avatar!

Now that I think about it I have been exploded on by many patients...still more afraid of catching something from Walmart.

There’s a reason why our pre-employment screenings never included a MRSA swab-yet anyone living in a ‘high risk’ population gets nasal swabbed the minute they’re admitted to a hospital-and then placed on isolation of positive. Seriously, most health care workers are probably also positive but no one is eagerly trying to get a sample out of our nares....there would be a shortage of bactroban ointment for sure.

1 hour ago, Davey Do said:

A bit the worse for the wear.

Just popping in to say there is no reason to believe that most nurses are colonized with MRSA.

I go through a couple of search engines every time this topic comes up and I can only come up with the idea that overall HCWs are colonized at a rate higher than the general population, but still somewhere under 15%. Generally. It seems like a figure often settled on is 5-6%. I will post/reference the systematic review that discusses it. They acknowledge very few good quality studies, thus skepticism warranted. Still, nothing I can find supports the idea that all (or even most) HCWs are colonized.

For fun, I will also cite a small study at a tertiary VA hospital specifically about the myth. Physicians and nurses are more likely than other HCWs to believe that they are probably colonized with MRSA when they aren't. In the study, half of the subjects (HCWs including physicians, nurses, others) believed that at least 50% of HCWs would be positive for MRSA colonization, though among those cultured/surveyed, less than 9% were nasal carriers.

Might we have a problem with transient colonization? Yeah, that's why we should be meticulous about hand-hygiene and observe appropriate precautions. That we can be vectors is a problem.

The authors of the VA study raise the caution against the myth that everybody/all HCWs are colonized d/t the concern that it may contribute to feelings of futility with regard to precautions.

Cadnum, J., Flannery, E., Chang, S., Donskey, C. J., & Stiefel, U. (2015). Perception vs reality: Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus carriage among healthcare workers at a Veterans Affairs medical center. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 37(1), 110-112.

Dulon, M., Peters, C., Schablon, A., & Nienhaus, A. (2014, July 3). MRSA carriage among healthcare workers in non-outbreak settings in Europe and the United States: A systematic review. BMC Infectious Diseases, 14: 363. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2334-14-363

On 2/25/2019 at 9:20 PM, JenMH88RN said:

OMG ?.....the contents of a patient with possible MRSA EXPLODED all over me today ?. Be honest, what are my chances of getting MRSA if the patient has it??? ?.....(fortunately, none of the contents got into my eyes neither my mouth ??) Thanks guys!!!

Ok Jen, I think you win this one ? I hope you feel better tough. Lol After 2 years being on floor, I got blood splashed into my right eye, and actually last night, the content of my patient’s JP drain content splashed all over the scrubs, on my leg... ? Inside me, I was freaking out!!! I literally RAN to wash off everything and get myself into the clean scrubs. All I was thinking was: I got to get back to my patients!!! I guess it’s true what they say: “ Sharing is caring.” Hahahah we got this!!!

I just can't get over the visual of the entire contents of a patient exploding. Talk about a not good very bad day! If I were in the line of fire of a patient explosion the last thing I'd worry about is a little MRSA. Sorry, it was a LONG day at work and my brain is still addled!