Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is a factor all nurses and travel nurses face at their respective healthcare jobs. However, the spread of MRSA may be reduced simply by using chlorhexidine, a common hospital soap, to bathe patients. Additionally, healthcare workers can be more diligent about wearing gloves and gowns to reduce spreading MRSA infections, according to a recent study.
MRSA today
Throughout 2015, the science community conducted and published multiple studies on MRSA in healthcare settings. According to Medical News Today, MRSA and other infections transmitted at hospitals are becoming an increasingly greater problem in healthcare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that nearly 1 in every 25 hospital patients has a minimum of one healthcare-related infection.
In fact, a study led by Dr. Mary-Claire Roghmann of the University of Maryland School of Medicine revealed that the rate of MRSA transmission between healthcare workers and patients, specifically at nursing homes, is extremely high. An average of 1 in every 4 nursing home residents has MRSA.
“We know that healthcare workers serve as a vector for MRSA transmission from one resident to another in settings such as nursing homes,” Roghmann said in a Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America press release. “The use of barrier precautions, such as gowns and gloves, limit this transmission, but guidance on when to use them is limited.”
According to Roghmann, the researchers set out to identify the crucial times to wear gowns and gloves throughout the day. They found that high-risk MRSA transmission activity occurred when the healthcare workers were performing transfers and helping the patients with everyday tasks such as dressing and personal hygiene.
While gloves were found to be contaminated with MRSA more often than gowns, gowns are equally important because healthcare workers underestimate the amount of time their clothes come in contact with patients.
Reducing MRSA contamination
In addition to wearing gloves and gowns more frequently, recent research revealed that nurses should use chlorhexidine to bathe patients instead of traditional soap.
According to the Mayo Clinic, chlorhexidine is an antiseptic antibacterial agent used to prep skin before surgery or injection, or after an injury. It is also used by healthcare professionals as a hand wash before working with patients because it kills bacteria and prevents future bacterial growth.
The contact precautions method, which is recommended by the CDC, encourages the use of gloves and gowns when working with patients to lessen the rate of MRSA transmission.
A study presented to SHEA in May 2015 supported using chlorhexidine to bathe patients because of its effectiveness at reducing the spread of MRSA. Using the chlorhexidine method versus solely the contact precautions method results in better patient care as well.
However, Dr. James McKinnell, an infectious disease specialist who lead the chlorhexidine study, believes that patients who are being treated solely under contact precautions receive a low quality of care. In the study’s press release, McKinnell explained that the contact precautions method leads to the isolation of nearly 15 percent of hospital patients, which causes other patient risks.
Moving forward
McKinnell said this research is important because it opens doors and paves the way for future studies.
“Our research indicated bathing patients may be as effective in preventing disease transmission as the current practice of limiting contact with patients,” McKinnell explained. “Further study is needed, but these findings could hold great significance for finding a relatively inexpensive and effective way to prevent the spread of potentially deadly hospital-acquired infections and improve patient care.”
How do you protect yourself from the spread of hospital-acquired infections? Do you think that bathing patients with chlorhexidine is practical at your healthcare facility?