MRSA Intervention Program in Veterans Hospital

MRSA Intervention Program in Veterans Hospital

Introduction

This paper focuses on the intervention approach to function as a community health nurse by implementing and evaluating a 6-week public health program in a community setting (Aschenbrenner & Diane 2011). This intervention program will address a global health problem, MRSA - Methicillen resistant staph aureus, specifically in Veterans Hospital.

The rapid increase in the amount of resistance is a problem in healthcare today (Awad & Elhabash, 2007). In the past, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections were only seen in hospitals or other institutional settings; however, patients now acquire infections in the community (Mody, Maheshwari & Galecki, 2007). This is cause for concern, because most MRSA infections cannot be treated with standard antibiotics and require treatment with a broad-spectrum antibiotic. There has also been a steady climb in the number of nosocomial (acquired in the hospital) multidrug-resistant infections. Some of these are more difficult to treat than MRSA infections and can have serious adverse effects on already ill patients (Liu, 2005). These changes have begun to limit the treatments available in both nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Other factors leading to antibiotic resistance include the widespread use of consumer products such as antibacterial cutting boards, tissues, and other products containing antibiotics.

Discussion

Rationale to choose MRSA

The reason I chose “Methicillen resistant Staphylococcus aureus” to address as a global health issue because MRSA is an infection that is resistant to antibiotics like methicillin (Klevens & Morrison, 2007). This staph, sometimes simply called "staph" or "S. aureus, is a common bacterium found commonly on the skin of healthy people. If staph gets into the body it can cause infections by cons mild skin such as boils or pimples or serious infections such as pneumonia. Methicillin is commonly used to treat infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus (Gosbell & Mercer, 2001). Considering the intervention program in Veterans hospital, MRSA may cause severe and disastrous outcome in the case of Veterans due to age factor.

History of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

MRSA was discovered in 1961 in Great Britain. It can be found in a conventional manner by culturing in the presence of methicillin (Collins, Gosbell & Wilson, 2002). MRSA infections are usually more severe, with higher mortality. Although very effective in treating most of these infections, some strains of S. Aureus have developed resistance to methicillin and die on contact with this antibiotic, hence the expression Staphylococcus aureus resistant to methicillin or MRSA.

Methicillin is a class of antibiotics including cloxacillin, which was used usually to treat infections with S. aureus. Some bacteria S. aureus are more destroyed by these antibiotics and are classified as resistant to methicillin (Awad & Elhabash, 2007). Over the past 30 years, new strains of S. aureus have become resistant to commonly used antibiotics.

This antibiotic resulted in the Infections caused by these organisms are more difficult and expensive to treat. MRSA can cause disease, but not more frequently than other types of germs (Aschenbrenner & Diane 2011). Symptoms of Staphylococcus aureus resistant to methicillin ...