Cared for MRSA patient without PPE

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi everyone,

I'm a student nurse on my first placement at a hospital so hoping I'm just stressing over nothing and someone can put my mind at ease about this!

I was on afternoon shift today and the ward I'm on got a new admission not too long before I got there. I received handover from the shift coordinator who didn't say too much about the new patient. A few minutes later another nurse asked me to help the new patient change because she spilled her drink on herself. I did this and helped her unpack some of her stuff.

I never actually touched the patient herself but did touch her clothing she was wearing and lots of her belongings.

A few minutes after I had finished in her room, my nurse buddy asked me to help set up a contact precaution trolley out the front of her room because she has MRSA. The shift coordinator forgot to hand it over!

My nurse told told me I'd be fine because it's spread by bodily fluids, I googled it when I got home to double check and saw you could get it front touching something an infected person touched.

Now I'm stressing and wondering if anyone can put my mind at ease about this or give me any guidance! Thanks in advance

This is how you get harry palms.

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Specializes in Adult MICU/SICU.

That depends on what type of MRSA infection the patient had. Was it wound, respiratory, urine, or just a past positive carrier?

When I was a brand new grad in 1994 we freaked out about every MRSA case that hit the unit. We all went down to employee health for nasal swabs. Eventually we were told not to bother.

A few years later a pulmonologist I worked with a lot at a hole in the wall long term ventilator ICU facility said, "All you nurses will probably succumb to MRSA when you are old and immunosuppressed".

Do I believe that? Then I did - when I was young and being old was a million years away. Now that I am old and crusty? Nope.

I think you're fine.

There are plenty of people you encounter in a daily basis - in the grocery store, restaurants, work place, schools and hotels who have tested positive for MRSA in the past. They aren't isolated forever you know, right?

They are typically only a problem to other immunosuppressed patients in a acute care setting. Like patient's with a super low WBC count, cancer, active HIV, or other immunosuppressive illness.

Don't worry unless you develop acute symptoms of an infection that doesn't respond to usual antibiotic treatment. Until then I am getting the farm you are okay my friend.

Beware more of pulling back bed clothes ungloved - there you will encounter snot, urine, feces and semen regularly.

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Specializes in Occ. Hlth, Education, ICU, Med-Surg.

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:happy:

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OH MY GOD!!! YOU TOUCHED THE CLOTHES OF A PT WITH MRSA!!! you are going to be sent to leper type colony off of Antartica where will will have to beg for alms while the local population will throw rancid food at you and your limbs will rot off.

Use some common sense. Did you see anyone else at the facility panicking?

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