This is from JCHO....

How ridiculous, although anyone want to guess why I wouldnt have a hard time believing this from JCAHO.

"--asked how we screen visitors for the flu, RSV season, etc. Wanted to know if we took every visitors temperature before being allowed in OB/NICU (anyone doing that??)"

This sounds like the off the cuff comments of a surveyor, as repeated back to staff by a nurse manager. It's not policy.

And, because it's filtered through mulitple sources (passed down from surveyor to manager to employee to friend of employee to us), it takes on the character of an urban legend (I read a great book about urban legends that claimed an essential ingredient is the info coming from a 'friend of a friend': a FOAF.)

You have no idea the direct context of that comment. Maybe it was sarcasm. Context is everything and the ability to evaluate context is removed because it is information that has been filtered down.

In any case, the off the cuff comments of an 'in the field' surveyor does NOT translate to JCAHO policy. For that, you'd need corroboration.

~faith,

Timothy.

Yikes.....actually, I can see them asking this and then next year implementing it. They are very big on infection control in maternal child. I don't think that this person is necessarily saying that is policy, just that they want to know if anyone is doing this and if this is why they are asking. 2 hospitals by us were asked this also. I don't think that it was filtered thru many things...I know at our hospital it goes from nurse to CNS, who in turn gets on her little CNS list server and sends out the message.

The unit takes temps on all visitors ages 8 and under, however; being RSV season, there are no visitors (siblings included) unless they are at least 13 yrs old. Part of our unit routine is to question all visitors if they have had a temp >100.0 in the last 24 hrs of other symptoms of contagious illness. We have a spot on our flowsheet specifically for documenting that such screening was done.

And yes, we sent staff members home who have temps >100.0 though we don't randomly (or routinely) screen for temps; just if you are feeling feverish. Happened one time to me. Had to go home for a temp of 101.5.