The CDC reported last week that a confirmed case of cross species MRSA infection between zoo handlers and an elephant calf have been reported. This is the first case reported by the CDC of such cross species contamination between zoo animals and their handlers.
As nurses, we need to work hard to educate our patients about infection reduction because this could just as easily have been a family pet that caused the exchange. Good hand washing techniques are the single best way to reduce the transmission of many infections.
Nursing, Education, and Hand Washing
Talk to every patient about hand washing practices and how they will help them to recover faster, avoid additional visits to the doctor, and help reduce community transmission to their peers, neighbors, and co-workers. There are many online resources to help you with this and I’m sure many of your facilities’ infection control nurses have even more resources than I could provide.
Infection prevention through hand washing would also make a great community project for student nurses, workplace nurses, and home health organizations. Funding might be available through donations from local businesses, hospitals, health departments, and even federal grants in some cases.
The potential benefits to the community include:
- reduction in employee sick days
- fewer missed school days for children
- less strain on hospital resources
- reduced spending by government health programs
- reduced co-pays for insured workers
- less strain on 911 emergency services
What do you nurses think?
Less us know what you think about implementing programs like this in your workplace or community. Leave a comment on this article using the blog link below or send me an email to Comments@NursingShow.com.
