The article is a case study based on a neonatal unit in a hospital in Lancashire. The neonatal unit have been shut down due to an MRSA outbreak which affected six babies from which five only had only bacteria on the surface of the skin whereas one baby had an MRSA bloodstream infection. I will investigate how they dealt with the situation with regards to priorities and responses and also well maintain respect and dignity of those included.
It is an critical incident because as it affected the six babies there are more people who have been affected because they were either workers, visitors or patients as all of them are on risk off carrying the bacteria all of them have to come back in to get screened and checked. The neonatal unit was shut down and they spoke to parents of the babies to keep them up to date the hospital will not accept any new babies or patients onto the unit who are supposed to give birth or are in labour until doctors and nurses are 100% satisfied that there is no risk and the unit is clear of MRSA.
They dealt with it very well as the health of the babies and the patients was their priority however they could have dealt with it a bit faster and warn people earlier because the impact they had on staff was that they think that it’s their fault of carrying poor hygiene and there are chances of losing their job. As mothers were already very depressed because their babies were premature they felt worse and more stressed when they got to know about the risk of having MRSA. Microbiology laboratories across the UK were asked to be vigilant and have been requested to send any suspicious samples of PVL for further analysis.
It is very important to maintain respect and dignity when dealing with the incident as it is a neonatal unit patients and staff already know that it’s a specialised unit and therefore special and extra care is needed so that means everybody has to be ready for whatever comes up. It is also necessary to have policies and procedures because then it makes easier and quicker to do things right at the first time and there is less frustration and stress helping the staff by doing everything peacefully and accurate. MRSA: The full name for MRSA is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aurous.
This bacterium is resistant to medicines called methicillin-type antibiotics, which means that it isn’t killed by these antibiotics and can be very difficult to treat. It’s sometimes called a superbug. It is normal for healthy people to have staph on their skin. Many of us do. Most of the time, it does not cause an infection or any symptoms. This is called “colonization” or “being colonized. ” Someone who is colonized with MRSA can spread MRSA to other people. A sign of a staph skin infection is a red, swollen, and painful area on the skin. Pus or other fluids may drain from this area. It may look like a boil.
These symptoms are more likely to occur if the skin has been cut or rubbed because this gives the MRSA germ a way to “get in. ” Symptoms are also more likely in areas where there is more body hair due to hair follicles. MRSA infections in patients in health care facilities tend to be severe. These staph infections may be in the bloodstream, heart, lungs, or other organs, urine, or in the area of a recent surgery. Some symptoms of these severe infections are: Chest pain Cough or shortness of breath, Fatigue, Fever and chills, General ill feeling, Headache, Rash and Wounds that do not heal.