silly mistake at work

[socalnursetob01]

Hello all,

I am a soon to be nurse her in southern california. Currently, I work in an assisted living facility. I have really enjoyed the facility as it has allowed me to develop interpersonal skills and basic care skills that I can transition into acute care one day. A bit about me: when it comes to work, I try my best to do everything by the book, especially when it comes to standard precautions with hygiene. A few days ago at work, I was caring for a resident who had just returned from the hospital due to him receiving some IV antibiotics for a chronic UTI. While at the hospital, they either found a current infection or he developed MRSA in his nares. Due to his infection, the resident (who has his own room) was sent back to my work with some topical antibiotics and put on contact isolation.

This particular day at work, I was changing the man with MRSA and getting him all situated in bed when the LVN came in to do a skin check and put his antibiotic ointment on his nose. She had asked me if I could go into another residents room and grab a couple of Q-tips to help administer the ointment. However, like a freaking "bone head", I took off my gown and gloves and left the room without washing my hands or putting hand sanitizer on before going into the other resident's room and grabbing a couple of Q-tips from his medicine cabinet

This little scenario may not seem like a big deal, but I have been so worried that this other resident will get a MRSA infection because I was an idiot and forgot to clean my hands before going into their room. The resident's room I went into was empty (which is why I went into there to get the Q-tips) due to the fact this resident was in the hospital for another round of chemo. I only touched the door handles of the room and the box of Q-tips, but I seriously have been having visions of this poor man getting an infection due to his weakened immune system from the chemo or possibly even dying due to an infection. Are my fears justified or am I being a major weirdo for worrying about something that is very trivial and not cause anything to happen? If my fears are justified, should I tell my supervisor at work what happened so they can look out for any s/s this resident may have due to an infection caused by my mistake? Please don't read this and roll your eyes. Any feedback will most definitely put my fears aside and help me stop feeling like such a ditz.

Best,

JJ