Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a considered both a Gram-positive bacterium and a pathogen, and is capable of causing many human diseases (Gordon & Lowy, 2008; Deurenberg, Vink, Kalenic, Friedrich, Bruggeman & Stobberingh, 2006). S. aureus is one of the most common causes of soft-tissue and skin infections (SSTIs) (Hansra & Shinkai, 2011). It can also cause post-operative infections at the wounds site, necrotizing pneumonia, and bacteraemia (Deurenberg et al., 2006). Resistance to methicillin is one of the major subtypes of this bacterium. It is then called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (Hansra & Shinkai, 2011). MRSA is usually considered to be a nosocomial infection (Witte, 2009), which means that it came from the hospital environment. The mecA gene determines methicillin resistance (Gordon & Lowy, 2008). mecA encodes the 78-kDa penicillin-binding protein (PBP) 2a (Deurenberg et al., 2006). β-lactam antibiotics normally bind to the PBPs in the cell wall (Deurengerg et al., 2006). This causes the disruption of synthesis of the peptidoglycan layer and eventually the death of the bacterium (Deurenberg et al., 2006). Because β-lactam cannot bind to PBP2a, synthesis of the cell wall and peptidoglycan layer are able to continue (Deurenberg et al., 2006), and the bacterium does not die.
This paper focuses on a client who developed MRSA while hospitalized. The purpose of this paper is to explain signs and symptoms, risk factors, laboratory and diagnostic tests that were used, dietary and nutritional implications, and the pharmacologic treatment of MRSA.
Signs and Symptoms
MRSA is most commonly found in the anterior nares, and one-quarter to one-third of the population is carrying MRSA at anytime (Miller & Die...
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Miller, L. G., & Diep, B. (2008). Colonization, Fomites, and Virulence: Rethinking the Pathogenesis of Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 46(5), 752-760. doi:10.1086/526773
Newland, J. G., & Kearns, G. L. (2008). Treatment Strategies for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections in Pediatrics. Pediatric Drugs, 10(6), 367-378.
Witte, W. W. (2009). Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: what do we need to know?. Clinical Microbiology & Infection, 1517-25. doi:10.1111/j.1469-0691.2009.03097.x
However, increasing antibiotic resistance patterns among intensive care unit pathogens, cultivated by empiric-broad spectrum antibiotic regimens, characterizes the variable concerns. Recent literature point that antibiotic use before the development of VAP is associated with increased risk for potentially resistant gran-negative infections and Methcillin-resistant Staphylococcus auereus (MRSA)
Facts of the victim’s case are laid out one by one, as if clues to a whodunit game where the culprit is ubiquitous MRSA. Descriptions are lengthy and vivid, describing everything from the patient’s painful symptoms to gruesome surgical procedures that will upset even the toughest of stomachs. This is definitely not the book to read before a large meal. The book reads like an episode of Frontline, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat until the end.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013), MRSA is easily transmitted from person to person or from touching materials or surfaces that had previous contact with the infection. Using the implementation of infection control along with patient education will help in the decrease of the spread and help in the prevention in MRSA as well as get patients involved in their own care. The purpose of this paper is to present the problem of MRSA as well as include the rationale and history, review the proposed solution, integrate an implementation plan, summarize the literature review, establish an implementation plan, use a nursing theory to support the implementation plan, use a change theory to support the implementation plan, discuss how the project will be evaluated, and create a dissemination
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...ood to above 60 degrees C and storing food below 7.2 degees C are two effective ways of controling S. aureus growth in food. The most important recent epidemiological information concerning this organism involves the increasing resistance to antibiotics. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is the most common of these antibiotic resistant organisms. The effects of MSRA are the same as any other S. aureus infection, however, MSRA infections are a difficult to treat because there are few effective antibiotics available. MSRA infections are generally not life threatening, however in some extreme cases death can occur.
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Patient education is of paramount importance if MRSA is to be reduced to its lowest minimum. According to Noble 2009, patient’s education stands a critical component of managing MRSA therefore; nurses are expected to be prompt in educating patients on specific measures in limiting and reducing the spread of MRSA by person to person contact. (Noble, 2009) The specific measures includes definition of MRSA, mode of transmission, the damage it can do to the body, specific treatments available and the process of treatment. This is to help the patient take part in the care. Noble 2009 explains that during care giving nurses and all other healthcare provider involve in giving care to a patient should communicate to patient all the precaution that will prevent the transmission of MRSA, and also giving the scientific rationale for the use of any precaution that is been used in the cause of care giving. (Noble, 2009.)
Resistant strains are no joke, for years my mother has been dealing with MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus). My mother has had MRSA so bad that at one time she was covered in MRSA sores much like when a person breaks out in hives. Watching her suffer the way she has worries me as I am also a healthcare worker and know what these resistant strains are capable of. I know these strains exist because of a lack of proper patient education. Proper patient education is key to the use of antibiotics and prevention of resistance-bacteria strains.
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has presented many problems in our society, including an increased chance of fatality due to infections that could have otherwise been treated with success. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, but overexposure to these drugs give the bacteria more opportunities to mutate, forming resistant strains. Through natural selection, those few mutated bacteria are able to survive treatments of antibiotics and then pass on their genes to other bacterial cells through lateral gene transfer (Zhaxybayeva, 2011). Once resistance builds in one patient, it is possible for the strain to be transmitted to others through improper hygiene and failure to isolate patients in hospitals.
Retrieved August 20, 2010 from http://www.kff.org/healthreform/7920.cfm
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) have been a persistent problem in the United States for decades. Yang et al. (2013) stated that “Nosocomial infections or healthcare-associated infections are defined as a localized or systemic condition resulting from an adverse reaction to the presence of an infectious agent or its toxin. There must be no evidence that the infection was present or incubating at the time of admission to the acute care setting” Also if infections occur within 48 hours of being discharged from the hospital or a healthcare setting, then it is considered as a healthcare-associated infection (Daud-Gallotti et al., 2012). Healthcare-associated infections can be easily prevented, however they are held accountable for hundreds of thousands of deaths for the past few decades. They have been known to increase rates of drawn-out hospital stays, cost, morbidity, mortality, and readmission to the hospital (Montoya & Mody, 2011). When antibiotic-resistant organisms (AROs) are involved with these types of infections, the rates are expanded even further and usually cause many more fatalities (Srigley, Lightfoot, Fernie, Gardam & Muller, 2013).
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