mytoby12

Please please be careful. I am at home having to put 2 eye drops in my eyes every 30 minutes and a salve in them twice a day. It feels like battery acid going in my eyes when I put the vancomycin in. The pain is unbearable. I am scared to go back around MRSA now. This is unbelievable. Who would have ever thought about Ocular MRSA? Nursing is getting so dangerous no matter how careful you are.

I know it has been awhile since this happened to you. But 2 years after having body fluids with MRSA in it , went into my eyes, I came up with MRSA in my eyes. Please get cultured by an eye Dr. Would love to know what your hospital did for you Mine told me to wash my eyes out again ..

AMEN to that. I have seen everything in Oncology. Be safe. If you get exposed to anything, fill out paperwork, be seen by ER, take care of yourself. Dont mean to scare you but it is NOT one of the safest places to work in the hospital. But I love working with my patients. But I can tell you this. When I was in nursing school, I thought I had every disease under the sun. Depended on what rotation too. My friends at school laughed when I got to OB and said...well, are you pregnant yet? Now after being a nurse, I have to be forced to go to the Dr, never miss work, tough as nails no matter how bad I hurt. So it gets better.

YOu are correct from what I am reading. If you got MRSA from the unit, you would probably need vancomycin. Community MRSA doesnt. But I am also reading despite that it doesnt need the Big Guns like vancomycin,alot of the community MRSA is worse. Strange.

There are some ways to tell if you got it from the hospital or the community. From what I am reading and what my Dr. told me, if your strand is not resistant to other antibiotics then it is probably community MRSA . If it is resistant to other antibiotics but not to vancomycin, then it is probably hospital acquired. Hope I have that right. In other words, hospital acquired has to be treated with vancomycin and community doesnt. I will be doing more research on this and keep you posted on what I find.

Even though this happened in May, go to the Eye Dr. DOnt take a chance. I am sitting here now with MRSA in my eyes from a splash . It is so painful having to put all these drops in every 30 minutes. My eyes are raw from them. I filled out a report but noone did anything despite the patient had MRSA. Just like one of your replies to your post says something about you not getting MRSA of the eyes. YES you can. and it does not take but a drop or two. There is so little research on MRSA of the eyes. Please protect your eyes. My exposure happened while a CNA was turning a patient and the JP drain was stuck in the railing. I was standing by the bed and got exposed. From now on even though we dont have to wear mask in a room with MRSA, only gowns and gloves...if they have any drains, etc, I wear a mask for any reason. Take care and protect yourself.

I work in Oncology and chemo to me is not my biggest worry. It is all the MRSA, VRE, C Diff we have on the floor. I know that is on every floor but with patients who have low immune systems, it is easier for them to contact these bugs.

I am going thru this same thing right now. I was exposed 2 years ago via a JP drain . the pt. had MRSA. I was in the room with the CNA helping turn the patient when it happened. The CNA did not see the drain was stuck in the railing and did not hear me in time to stop turning her. She was on precautions but all we had to wear was a gown and gloves, no protective eyewear . Ofcourse I would have if i had been emptying the drain or working with the patient. I went to the ER, filled out incident report and no cultures or followup was done on me either. I should have been tested for HIV, Hep B and C also after a body fluid exposure. But none of this was done. Over the last two years I have had what I thought was allergies (itchy eyes) and once had a stye. Nothing I would have linked to MRSA. I got an infection in my eyes last week and found out I have MRSA. My eye Dr said it was from the exposure as MRSA can show up and you may not even notice the symptoms. Also, it can lay dormant for a long time before an infection occurs. but ofcourse workmans comp will not pay and the treatment is very expensive. We are in the process of getting all my documentation over the two years to see if they will change their minds.So always fill out report , and demand to see an eye Doctor to get cultures even if there are no symptoms. You have to protect yourself. Good luck to your friend I noticed her exposure was a year ago.SHe needs to be checked out even if she has had no symptoms to make sure the MRSA has not just been dormant.