MRSA screening by nose and skin swabs, is a routine test performed on patients either before or on admission to hospital. MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) is a bacteria which may be present on the skin and in the nostrils of healthy people, causing no signs, symptoms or infection. These people can be described as being colonised with MRSA. Undergoing procedures or surgery may give an opportunity for the bacteria on the skin to enter the body, and cause infections. MRSA infection may be difficult to treat, as the bacteria are resistant to many commonly used antibiotics. It is important to screen patients, so that if MRSA is present they can be decolonised to reduce the risk of themselves contracting an infection with MRSA, and to prevent the spread of the bacteria to other patients. \/n \/n Once you have watched this video, why not attempt the multiple choice quiz to test your knowledge?<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MRSA screening by nose and skin swabs, is a routine test performed on patients either before or on admission to hospital. MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) is a bacteria which may be present on the skin and in the nostrils of healthy people, causing no signs, symptoms or infection. These people can be described as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tomorrows-clinicians","category-uncategorized","entry"],"youtubeVideo":"455739513\/200071885b","question1":"Patients have nasal and groin swabs taken just before or on admission to hospital. What do these swabs test for?","answers1":"Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus | Clostridium difficile | Mycobacterium tuberculosis | Helicobacter pylori","correctAnswer1":"0","correctAnswerText1":"","question2":"MRSA is difficult to treat when it causes an infection. Which antibiotic does most strains of MRSA respond to?","answers2":"Co-amoxiclav | Cefuroxime | Tazocin | Vancomycin","correctAnswer2":"3","correctAnswerText2":"","question3":"What does decolonisation involve?","answers3":"Antibacterial body wash | Antibacterial nasal ointment | Antibacterial body wash and antibacterial nasal ointment | Intravenous antibiotics.","correctAnswerText3":"","correctAnswer3":"2","question4":"What equipment do you require for MRSA screening swabs?","answers4":"Two swabs | Request form | 0.9% sodium chloride | All of the above.","correctAnswer4":"3","correctAnswerText4":"","question5":"What must you ensure when handling swabs?","answers5":"Checking the swab packets are sealed | Check that the swabs are not passed the expiry date | Place the swabs onto flat surface, ensuring that the cotton wool tip does not touch anything | All of the above","correctAnswer5":"3","correctAnswerText5":"","question6":"What is the correct procedure for taking nasal swabs?","answers6":"Moisten the tip of the swab with few drops of saline, asking patient to tilt their head back, place the swab directed upwards inside the nostrils and gently rotate against the walls | Moisten the tip of the swab with few drops of saline and place the swab on the upper lip just underneath the nose | Using a dry swab, ask patient to tilt their head back, place the swab directed upwards inside the nostrils and gently rotate against the walls | Using a dry swab, stroke the tip of the nose on the outside five times","correctAnswer6":"0","correctAnswerText6":"","question7":"When taking a groin swab, how many times must the swab be stroked against the skin?","answers7":"2 | 5 | 10 | 15","correctAnswer7":"2","correctAnswerText7":"","question8":"What other sites may require MRSA swab taking?","answers8":"Wound or skin lesions | Catheters | PEG sites | All of the above.","correctAnswer8":"3","correctAnswerText8":"","question9":"What is an effective and easy method of preventing spread of MRSA when reviewing patients on wards?","answers9":"Alcohol hand gel | Chlorhexadine and surgical scrub technique | Using detergent wipes to clean hands | None of the above.","correctAnswer9":"0","correctAnswerText9":"","question10":"Infection with MRSA can be associated with?","answers10":"Meningitis | Necrotising fasciitis | Syphilis | Bronchiectasis","correctAnswer10":"1","correctAnswerText10":"","question11":"","answers11":"","correctAnswer11":"","correctAnswerText11":"","question12":"","answers12":"","correctAnswer12":"","correctAnswerText12":"","question13":"","answers13":"","correctAnswer13":"","correctAnswerText13":"","question14":"","answers14":"","correctAnswer14":"","correctAnswerText14":"","question15":"","answers15":"","correctAnswer15":"","correctAnswerText15":"","icon":"nose-and-groin-swabs","parentId":"","recapId":"380","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":819,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions\/819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}