Proper Handling of Linens for MRSA Patients

This assignment details the critical steps in managing linens for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) patients in healthcare settings. It covers proper handling and transportation of dirty linens, safe disposal methods like incineration or treatment conversion, and the importance of cleaning client equipment to prevent infection spread.

MRSA- INFECTION CONTROL
INTRODUCTION
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) is the strain of bacteria Staphylococcus
Aureus. It causes infection in various part of the
body which are difficult to treat as compared to that
of the other strain of this bacteria. Staph infection
mainly MRSA initiate with swollen and painful
bumps resembling pimples or insect bite. The area
affected becomes warm and puss start developing
in it along with fever. And in some case these
pimples convert into the deep cuts and requires
surgery to get treated (Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus MRSA, 2017). So, there is
immense need to make awareness regarding such
type of bacteria.
5 MOMENTS OF HAND HYGIENE
To improve the hand related hygiene WHO
came up with new strategy of 5 moments of health
hygiene (About SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands,
2017). This approach suggests all the worker of
health care centre and hospitals to clean hands in
following conditions.
1. Prior touching any patient.
2. Before performing any cleaning procedures
3. After exposure to body fluid
4. After performing treatment of patient
5. After having contact with patient
surroundings
PRINCIPLES OF BARE BELOW ELBOWS
Bare below elbow is an approach to prevent
the transmission of microorganisms from nurses
and health care providers to patients. In many
conditions while treating the MRSA infected
patient, these bacteria get transmitted to clothes or
lab coat of nurses and health care worker (Wan and
Cradle, 2017). As a result, while treating different
patients these microbes get transferred to patients
and they also get infected with MRSA bacterium.
Principles of bare below elbows:
 Shirts of nurses and worker in hospitals should
be of short sleeved.
 Wearing any jewellery and watches should be
prohibited
 White lab coats should not be allowed to wear.
 Neck ties should also be permitted.
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HAND CARE PROCEDURES INCLUDING
COVERING CUTS AND ABRASIONS
To reduce the risk of cross contamination
health workers and nurses should maintain proper
health hygiene which includes use of Alcohol
Based Hand Rub (ABHR). General health care
procedures during any cut and abrasion are:
 Covering the breached skin with semi
permeable film dressing.
 Band aids should be avoided as in moisten
condition they provide perfect environment for
bacterial growth.
 Waterproof dressing like opsite and tegaderm
can be used to cover the cuts and abrasions.
 In case of chapped hands aqueous based creams
should be applied to hands
PERSONAL PROTECTION EQUIPMENT
Personal protective equipment (PPE), are
used to lower down the exposure of hazards a
workplace to prevent injuries and illness.
These equipment provide user with safety
against the illness that can result from the infection
by MRSA bacterium at working area. Some
specific equipment used at particular working area
are:
Area of protection Equipment used
Respiratory
protection
Disposable cartridge and air
line
Hearing protection Ear plugs and muffs
Eye protection Shields, Spectacles and visors
Skin protection Creams and Half-sleeved
clothes
Hand protection Barrier creams and gloves
Foot protection Protective shoes
Head protection Caps and helmet
RESPIRATORY HYGIENE AND COUGH
ETIQUETTE
The National Centre for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) spread awareness regarding
following certain protocols to prevent the spread of
microorganism while coughing or sneezing that
may result in severe infections. Some instruction
are considered to be important to maintain proper
respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette. These
instructions mentioned below:
 Cover the mouth and nose with tissue while
sneezing and coughing.
 Tissues should be used to contain all
respiratory secretions.
 Immediate disposal of tissue in provided
dust bin.
 In absence of tissue one must sneeze and
cough into inner elbow.
 In case of using hand, proper hand hygiene
steps should be practised to avoid spread to
microbes (Song and Yang 2016).
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ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANING
In hospital, there are a number of patients
suffering from different types of disease. As they
enter hospital they carry lot of dirt, dust, particles of
soil and many disease-causing microbes with them.
So, it is necessary to maintain a clean and hygienic
environment in hospital and health care to prevent
contaminations by these microbes. Following
procedures can be used:
 Detergents – These products are used to
remove dirt, sand and germs from the
surface. It works by lifting them from the
surface and can be rinsed away using force
of water. In the same way liquid hand soaps
perform their action on our hands.
 Sanitizers – Sanitizers are used to reduce
the microbes and germs to a particular level
which is considered to be safe.
 Disinfectants – Chemical products that help
in destroying or inactivate the microbes and
hinder their further growth, such chemicals
are called disinfectants. U.S. Environmental
Protection agency (EPA) regulates these
chemicals.
HANDLING, TRANSPORTING AND
PROCESSING OF LINEN
In hospitals and health care it is important to
change linens on daily basis, especially in ICU's. As
every patient have different type of disease and
sometime blood test may result in falling of blood
on the linen, this makes it necessary to change the
linens regularly (Barenghi, Barenghi and Di Blasio
2017). Following are the steps of proper handling,
transporting and storage of clean linens in case of
MRSA patients,
 Dirty linens should be bagged properly at
collection site and transported in a properly
packed soiled linen bag provided by laundry
service.
 Linens that are highly contaminated with
body fluids like blood should be handled
properly by wearing Personal Protective
Equipment and discarded in red colour bag
named biohazards.
 Linen bags should not be overfilled.
 After getting clean linen area of storage
should be cleaned by disinfectants.
 Clean linen should not be placed or stored at
floors.
DISPOSAL OF CONTAMINATED WASTE
There are several methods of disposing
contaminated and hazardous waste it includes:
 Using incineration to burn waste at very
high temperature and destroying them into
flames.
 Treating the infectious waste and convert in
to non-infectious before disposing.
 Sharps and needles used while treating
wounds of MRSA infected person must be
grounded properly.
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 Untreated waste should be labelled with tag
of biohazard waste with an international
biohazard symbol (Valadão, 2017).
HANDLING AND CLEANING CLIENT
EQUIPMENT
 Using disposable patient care equipment
lowers the threat of spreading MRSA
infection other patients.
 In case of using common equipment for all
other patients then it must be cleaned and
disinfected prior using for other patients.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barenghi, L., Barenghi, A., & Di Blasio, A. (2017).
Implementation of Recent Infection Prevention
Procedures Published by Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention: Difficulties and
Problems in Orthodontic Offices. Iranian
Journal of Orthodontics, (In Press).
Kimtee, S., & Nighojkar, E. A. (2017) Environment
Audit on Tyre Industry: A Case Study of
Bridgestone Pvt. Ltd Pithampur, Indore.
Song, M., & Yang, N. (2016). High School
Students’ Knowledge and Practice of
Respiratory Hygiene/Cough Etiquette following
Education.
Valadão, M. C. D. S. (2017). Impacto de diferentes
colonizações bacterianas sobre o estado
nutricional, função pulmonar e gravidade clínica
em pacientes com fibrose cística.
Wan, W. Y., & Cradle, B. (2017). Survey of current
hand hygiene practices amongst doctors and
attitudes on being bare below the
elbows. International Journal of Infection
Control. 13(1).
Online
About SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands. 2017.
[Online]. Available through
<http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/background/5m
oments/en/>. [Accessed on 1st September 2017]
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA). 2017. [Online]. Available through
<http://solutionsdesignedforhealthcare.com/meth
icillin-resistant-staphylococcus-aureus-mrsa-
prevention>. [Accessed on 1st September 2017]
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