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Nursing Knowledge
MRSA is a medical diagnosis and a subtype of Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics (penicillins, most cephalosporins and carbapenems).
Replace with: Most MRSA infections appear as a red, swollen, or pus-filled bump or infected area in skin or soft tissues. MRSA can also cause invasive infections that present with systemic symptoms such as fever, hemodynamic instability, and organ-specific findings.
Potential nursing diagnoses:
MRSA often spreads by contact with an infected wound or by sharing communal items. To prevent transmission, maintain good hand and body hygiene, keep cuts and wounds clean and covered until fully healed, avoid sharing personal items such as towels or needles, and seek medical evaluation promptly if MRSA infection is suspected.
Five primary risk factors for the transmission of MRSA involve contact, cleanliness, compromised skin, contaminated objects, and crowded living environments. The risk for MRSA infection increases with activities that involve sharing equipment such as needles or medical devices, hospitalization, incarceration or surgical patients.
Essential prevention practices include hand hygiene compliance, contact precautions for colonized/infected patients, environmental cleaning and disinfection, laboratory-based alert systems, and antimicrobial stewardship programs.
Incision and drainage (I&D) is a primary treatment for MRSA infections presenting in the skin and soft tissues. Antibiotics are added with signs of systemic illness, extensive disease, immunosuppression, extremes of age, or failure to respond to I&D alone.
MRSA infections requiring intravenous antibiotics are usually treated with agents like vancomycin, daptomycin, and linezolid. Oral antibiotics agents such as trimethoprin-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), doxycycline/minocycline and clindamycin are more often used for less serious cases.
If MRSA is causing a skin or soft tissue infection, proper wound care is essential. This might include cleaning the wound, applying dressings, and possibly assisting with procedures like abscess drainage. Follow all infection control protocols to prevent the spread of MRSA to other clients or healthcare workers.
If left untreated, MRSA infections can lead to fever, sepsis, pneumonia, bloodstream infections, and other severe complications.
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