Cross posted from:
Nurse William
(Relax. This will only hurt for a few seconds.)
Okay, my friends. For the last week or so, the media have gotten Americans all worked up into a froth about this “deadly new bacteria” called MRSA. My ER is now inundated with frantic phone calls from people who have no idea what they are looking at, or what the disease really is.
One charming woman (who clearly smoked wayyyyyyyy too much) called amid the throes of a panic attack because she found a pimple and was convinced beyond all attempts to reason with her that she was “gonna die of Melissa.”
“Ah, you mean MRSA.” I corrected the hyperventilating woman on the phone.
“What’s that?” she asked with a voice that reminded me of Bosley from Charlie’s Angels.
“Never mind,” I sighed, rubbing my eyes.
Well, after a full rotation of charming phone conversations such as that one, and a waiting room filled with wild-eyed impressionable souls, I have had just about a dang nuff of this.
I get tired of the media feeding crap to the public about infectious diseases. This case is no different. (But that perky anchorwoman wouldn’t BS you about something that involves your well-being, would she? After all, she furrowed her brow when she said it. Furrowed! Her! Brow! And with all that Botox on board, that takes some effort, Spanky!)
Oh, of course that cute little newsbabe wouldn’t BS you. She cares about you. Kum-bah-frigging-yah. Please clean up before you leave.
Well, here is the real scoop, Alley Oop.
I am an Emergency Department nurse, and I have encountered patients with MRSA a gajillion times. (By “encountered” I mean, “assisted in cutting open and draining their wounds, packed their wounds, and changed their wound dressings.” And by “gajillion,” I mean “gajillion.”) I have- gasp!- touched a person who has MRSA. And wouldn’t you know- I never got it. And I don’t pass it on to other patients, either.
(Gosh! How can this be? He touches the leper and he does not become unclean! What manner of man is this!?)
Look, folks. It is really very simple. I know how to protect myself from it, and I know how to protect my patients from it. And because I understand MRSA, I don’t get freaked out when I see an ingrown hair on my arm. I will tell you why. And when you read this, you will become just as confident as I am, because you will know the truth.
Are you ready? Here we go.
1. Wash your hands with soap and WARM water.
Any soap will do. It doesn’t have to be Hibiclens(TM), or any other ludicrously expensive antimicrobial soap for that matter. Just plain old soap and water. ANY old soap is “antibacterial” when used correctly; All you have to do is make LOTS of suds. Its the suds that make a soap antibacterial. “Really?” you ask. “How so?” you ask. Well, settle down and I will tell you: Suds form micelles around dirt and bacteria and lift them from the skin’s surface to be rinsed away to the black hell from whence they came.
Don’t use hot water, because hot water dissolves the natural oils on your hand that keep your skin from drying out and cracking. (Cracks are openings deep into the skin. Openings deep into the skin invite bacteria.) Don’t use cold water, either, because cold water will not produce decent suds, and it will not rinse all the soap away from your skin, so your skin will dry and crack. (Again, cracked skin says, “Hey bacteria! Par-tay over here!”) So remember: not too hot, not too cold, but just right.
Wash- and rinse- AND dry- under those pretty rings on your fingers. Rings hide light- that means darkness. Moisture hides under rings- that means bacteria. Darkness + bacteria= EEEWWW.
And come on, folks. REALLY wash your hands. For fifteen seconds. None of that “happy birthday” song crap (which I can sing in five seconds). Sing your ABCs; THAT’s a fifteen-second song. Fifteen seconds should also cover roughly two limericks, if that’s more your style. That includes slurring of speech secondary to alcohol consumption.
Dry your hands completely, including under those stylish rings. Water = bacteria. If you don’t dry, you just defeated the purpose of step 1.
And don’t you DARE just splash your hands in the water and then shake them off! If you do that, you are the one spreading this crap around. Stop it! Bacteria L-O-V-E-S moisture. And where you just had your hands- bacteria loves that place too. So when you exit the bathroom and go smoke that cigarette and eat your sushi, guess what else you’re putting in your mouth- or that hottie of yours when you try to be cute and feed her an hoeurs-d’oeuvres?
Nothing says “I love you” like a mouthful of Enterococcus faecalis.
2. Use enough alcohol-based hand sanitizer to cover ALL of your hands, including under the nails. With Brylcreem, a little dab’ll do ya. With hand sanitizer, you need enough to wash EVERY FILTHY BIT of your hands for the same length of time as demonstrated in part 1, above.
3. Take a shower. I mean on a daily basis. Good personal hygiene is your friend. Remember those micelles? They do the same thing wherever you create them.
4. Cover your boo-boo. Even if you don’t have MRSA, if you rub that boo-boo over someone who has it or something upon which MRSA rests, guess what? You get MRSA! See how this works?
5. Don’t touch someone else’s boo-boo. Wherever it is. Draw your own picture. Leave me out of it.
6. Don’t touch any bandages that cover someone else’s boo-boo. That’s self-explanatory.
7. Don’t share your towels, razors, or anything that touches your or someone else’s boo-boo. Yes, that means you married/joint domicile people, too. Think about where that towel/razor/dressing has been. Can somebody give me a BLEEEEEEYAAHHHHHH!?
If you want a version of the game that tells you the same thing but spares you the rapier-like wit, go to The Official Center For Disease Control MRSA Website and fall asleep in the middle of it.
And one last thing: MRSA has been around for years. And that cute little news-floozy is just playing you for ratings.
Don’t thank me. I’m here to help, and I’m in a giving mood. No charge for that.
I think you left out a couple of things. Like don’t rub noses with your pets and use condoms since MRSA is also an STD. I don’t think there is a need yet to downplay the media’s coverage of a bacteria that is slotted to kill more people than AIDS. If you remember, their delay to get with the program when HIV struck cost millions of lives. AIDS, too, we find had been around for twenty years or so but it didn’t explode until the 1980’s. This is the beginning of the MRSA explosion and I find myself more outraged by those of you trying to downplay MRSA than by those “overdoing” it. Our hospital ER didn’t even recognize MRSA a year ago and they are now treating an average of three cases a day.
Your advice on handwashing are sound and good but lets not whitewash this. People who wash their hands correctly are getting sick, too. We know MRSA can live at least two weeks on a penny and all it takes is to touch your nose or a sore after touching a spot colonized with the bacteria and you could have it if you are susceptible to MRSA.
Rhoda, you are right. In my initial post, my statement about the viability of MRSA on a flat hard surface was wrong. It can last much longer than I stated. I will correct that error.
My post was not intended to minimize the devastation that MRSA can cause. Rather, it was intended to put tools into the hands of the general public about how, even though MRSA is becoming alarmingly more common, it can be prevented from being transmitted through simple common-sense methods. Since you work in an ER, I am sure that you are as aware of these methods as I am.
In my hospital, we have been seeing patients with community-acquired MRSA for years. Yes, we are seeing more patients with MRSA-related infections. But when these people were informed about the means of transmiting and acquiring MRSA, they were shocked at how simple it would have been to avoid it.
My position is not that we should ignore MRSA. Quite the opposite is the case. MRSA is dangerous, and can kill you if untreated. And while your point is valid, I have had dozens more responses from people who have expressed their resolve to practice more sound handwashing habits.
I am sure that I could have been less snarky about the way I said what I said. But then, my frustration over the media-induced panic regarding a strain of bacteria that has existed for decades was showing. And while the media painted this as the Doom of Mankind, I wanted to allay the panic that these stories induced. For the most part, the result has been a more well-informed audience that has learned how to properly wash their hands. These people have in turn pledged to show their friends how to wash their hands. And you know as well as I do that if enough people make good handwashing an everyday habit, MRSA will not be as great a threat as it is today.
That was the point of my post. And while your points are well-taken, I stand by it based on its outcome: a better-informed and better-armed audience.
Stay snarky, ER. Boring articles don’t get read.
And Rhoda,
The widespread education about, and availablility of condoms, can be an effective health-preventative menace, when used in a conscientiously applied program of sexual promiscuity and visits to “Family Planning” clinics.
Condoms have the same relationship to sexual disease and out-of-wedlock pregnancy as filters on cigarettes have to lung cancer.
The only safe sex is unprotected sex in the context of a love-centered committment as in the Judeo-Christian vision. It’s called “Marriage.”
I think you need to visit this website.
http://www.nursing-standard.co.uk/archives/ns/vol19-33/pdfs/v19n33p1618.pdf
As you will see, there is no evidence to show that MRSA poses a risk to healthy people!!
I can’t believe somebody actually wrote this:
“The only safe sex is unprotected sex in the context of a love-centered committment as in the Judeo-Christian vision. It’s called ‘Marriage.’”
Yeah, uh-huh.
Remember, folks, if you’re in a committed relationship, but you’re not Jewish or Christian, or even if you ARE Jewish or Christian and in a committed relationship, but not actually married, then you’re not practicing safe sex!
A piece of paper from your local government and the religion you happened to be born into will protect you from sexually transmitted diseases! It’s medically proven!
Oh, and if you happened to be born into one of those horrible, awful “wrong” religions, just make a choice to fix the problem.
“Hmm, I believe in the Buddha, but I don’t want herpes…I guess I’ll dump the fatty and believe in Jesus now…I’m protected…woot!”
WTF
Laz, I hate to break it to you, but the antithesis of your misconception is not necessarily true.
Have you been tested, lately?
Debating this with somebody as closed-minded as you would be pointless.
Have fun in fantasyland!
We’d have to find something to debate, Laz. From your criticism it is clear you either flatly didn’t understand what I said, or intentionally decided to attempt to distort it with a straw man. You can’t debate if you can’t agree on a subject.
I never suggested you had to be of any particular religion to be enjoying “safe sex.” I described the nature of “safe sex” and pointed out that that nature is precisely the prescription of the Judeo-Christian vision. It was a shameless plug for my beliefs but not the claim of which you accuse me.
Do you know what the meaning of “as” is?
Gee, “as”, hmm, not sure…
Yes, of course I know what it means. My point is that you muddied your own statement by attaching the “Judeo-Christian vision” to it, when in fact neither Judaism or Christianity had anything to do with the idea of monogamous marriage, which pre-dates recorded history.
On top of which, it’s entirely possible for either of two people in a monogamous, committed relationship (including marriage), neither of whom had had sex previous to getting married, to have acquired, through some other means, a disease which could then be transmitted sexually (or by touch or even through airborne means) to one another.
In which case, being in a committed, monogamous marriage would actually be SAFER using a condom than it would having unprotected sex in the same relationship, under the same circumstances.
All three points of that part of your post thusly nullified.
So then the debate would be over whether or not your “shameless plug” made any sense, which it didn’t. Which is why I responded in the first place, because you wrote something that made it clear that you either flatly didn’t understand what you were writing about, or intentionally decided to attempt to distort the issue with your religious beliefs.
Maybe it was a shameless plug for your beliefs, but it was one that was entirely baseless and, therefore, ridiculous.
Hence my ridicule.
To the contrary, Laz, The Judeo/Christian “religion” is the sum of general revelation of the true and living God. It includes revelation from the beginning, before your “recorded history.”
He created the world and monogamous relationships and is fully capable of protecting his children, who are to be held in contrast to his creations.
Your assertions are based on the assumptions of the materialist; he who actively disbelieves in God out of pure faith in his own reasoning ability.
In the final analysis, you might say, the condom is prepared against the day of infection, but safety is of the LORD.
Disprove that.
What final analysis? Did you just decide for the entire universe that this topic cannot be analyzed further?
And did you just ask me to disprove a statement of pure conjecture about God? You truly are ridiculous. Either that or you don’t actually believe what you say you believe, since you cannot possibly know God or what / how God thinks.
And you also assume way too much…I absolutely believe in God, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Hopefully your head won’t explode at the thought of somebody who believes in God but doesn’t agree with your silly ramblings.
But then again, you seem to only write for yourself and people who already agree with you.
The “universe” is not, to the degree it effects our discussion, sentient and, hence, not at issue.
No, there is no conjecture. Your appellation “ridiculous” is baseless and rude, no more.
Please disclose your reasoning for the proposition that I “cannot possibly know God” and your reconciliation of that opinion with your claim to believe in that which you, simultaneously, assert to be un-knowable. While you’re at it, please note that I did not proffer any opinion, much less any assumption about your beliefs relative to God, only offering a critique of the assumptions of your argument.
Again, your ‘head exploding’ image is simply juvenile and rude denigration. Name-calling. Empty, hate-filled vilification.
My motives in writing are, particularly to one who cannot possibly share any empathy for the endeavor, well outside the bounds of what, for you, would be civil discourse, but at least, I can say there are, in fact, people who agree with me.
You have yet to demonstrate any equivalent constituency.
And I don’t need to demonstrate any such thing.
If I have to explain to you how you “cannot possibly know God” then I don’t think you understand the Judeo/Christian vision enough to comment on it.
Let’s put it in layman’s terms here: If you believe that you, a mortal human, can understand and know the eternal, immortal, immaterial God, whose capabilities include creation of the universe and all life within it, then you are beyond crazy.
As I originally said, debating with you is pointless. You write in circles, and yet you say that something I wrote is juvenile?
You accuse and then demand proof of the contrary (a classic form of empty argument), or claim you didn’t accuse. Again, ridiculous.
Can you “prove” the universe is not sentient? I didn’t think so. La la la let’s all play Doug’s fun little word games.
And how is stating “I hope your head doesn’t explode…” name-calling? What name did I call you there? Have you never heard that facetious expression before? Let me give you another example…
“Johnny walked into the candy store and I thought his head would explode!” Does that sound like name calling or something filled with hate to you?
There is no hate possible here…I don’t know you and therefore have no emotion about you. One can’t have hate without emotion, wouldn’t you say?
Do you believe that you know me? How do you claim to know what I would consider civil discourse enough to make the comment “…well outside the bounds of what, for you, would be civil discourse…”? Or are you going to flipflop again and say that you didn’t say that?
Or are you going to claim that it is “obvious” from what I’ve written in this thread what I do, or at least don’t, consider civil discourse?
Laz,
You lecture about the “Judeo/Christian Vision” while directly contradicting its fundamentals.
Hebrews 8:11 (King James Version):
“And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.”
You are free to disagree with the Judeo/Christian vision, but to say it excludes “knowing God” is just plain ignorance.
“You accuse and then demand proof of the contrary…” This is just a lie. I’ve never done any such thing.
“Can you “prove” the universe is not sentient? I didn’t think so. La la la let’s all play Doug’s fun little word games.”
You are the one who’s playing games. And calling names.
‘And how is stating “I hope your head doesn’t explode…” name-calling? What name did I call you there?’
You painted a scurrilous picture: that I can’t imagine belief in God that is divergent from my own, or my head would explode. It is utterly without reason or justification in anything I’ve said, but creates a denigrating image. That the image is not a “name” linguisticly, is irrelevant, the practice is the same. If I call you “poo-poo head” or simply describe you with poo-poo on your head I’m name-calling, engaging in ad hominem. If I were to say it like you, I’d put it this way, “If you don’t know it’s name calling then you are beyond crazy.”
“’Johnny walked into the candy store and I thought his head would explode!’ Does that sound like name calling or something filled with hate to you?”
No, of course not, it’s an entirely different use, and devoid of the hate you spew toward me.
“There is no hate possible here…I don’t know you and therefore have no emotion about you.”
You hate my ideas and react by irrationally attacking and falsely accusing me, personally.
“How do you claim to know what I would consider civil discourse…”
I didn’t comment at all on your opinions of civil discourse, but on civil discourse, itself. Read more carefully. “for you” does not mean “in your opinion” but, rather, “for someone with your limitations” Civil discourse for someone with your disposition would not rise to the standard expected of someone with real manners, but should be considered on its own merits, like a pottery contest entry from an arts class beginner. Any attempt is appreciated.
I haven’t flipflopped at all. You just keep missing the point.
And that’s exactly why I made the comment about your word games. You first state that you didn’t comment on my opinions, but on civil discourse itself. But then you justify it with “for someone with your limitations” which would require that you know what my limitations are…impossible, again, since you don’t know me and are basing that statement on only what I’ve written in this thread…not at all an accurate indication of any such thing. Same with you writing, immediately after that, “…for someone with your disposition…”
You don’t really know what my disposition is…you’re just assuming based on what you’ve read here.
I absolutely don’t hate your ideas…I just think how you present them is silly.
And just because Hebrews 8:11 includes the phrase “Know the Lord” doesn’t mean mortal man can know God in the way that I included in my previous post. The word “know” has many different meanings and connotations including to be familiar with, which isn’t anywhere close to true knowing and understanding in the complete sense.
Do you believe that you “know” God well enough to be able to understand His motivations, how He thinks or what He wants, outside of anything specifically written in the Bible? I’m not saying you said this…I’m asking the question.
By the way, “poo poo head” was actually very funny…I laughed out loud at that
I am simply clicking through web sites gathering information while I came across this argument between the two of you.. now I know that this is none of my buisiness, and I probably should keep by big mouth shut
But Laz, please know when to simply stop arguing and owm up to your own immaturity, it was entertaining to read your angry remarks against somebody who simply listed his own ideas/opinions. From what I can recall, you attacked his ideas in a rude way, which you really had no right to do. This is a site available for anybody to write down anything he or she would like to share. Childish people. But fun for the readers! 
You must not have the amount of attention drawn to yourself as you would like, it clearly shows.
I’m really frustrated about everyone downplaying this highly infectious flesh eating DISFIGURING disease. I didn’t know what MRSA was a year ago. Now I know all to well about this out of control superbug that takes a bite out of anyone it comes into contact with. I have hospital bills that are ever climbing from MRSA. I have four children, two of which have become infected. It takes a toll on you, emotionally, physically, and financially
You can take all the precautions you want, but once you have this hostile bacteria it lays dormant and waits. People need to know what they are dealing with. I’m no expect on MRSA but I seem to know more then the doctors and nurses. I live in Maryland and my local ER treats about 10 cases a day on average, If this is not an epidemic…. I don’t know what is. MRSA can make you very, very sick. Most doctors don’t believe that the one has anything to do with the other. The truth is, it’s much more serious and out of control then the media wants us to believe. Knowledge is power and just may save your life. MRSA can travel to your vital organs and lungs. What’s it going to take for this disease to get the attention it deserves? THIS IS AN EPIDEMIC…..WAKE UP!
Well, I was ‘healthy’ and found out now that I have MRSA in my ear.
Worse, I’m suddenly allergic to many antibiotics.
You see, antibiotics pumped by medical professionals for the slightest sniffle is probably what lead me down this path.
A doc gave me AVELOX (which almost killed me) for a throat infection, without culturing it.
Honestly, all of the rounds of antibiotics I’ve taken were never because of a culture.
I was shocked to find out that many of my recent problems (Anxiety attacks, joint pain, ‘brain zaps’ etc etc the list goes on!) are probably related to WAY too many antibiotics pumped into my system.
Antibiotics are poison. Not too long ago Antibiotics were the 4th leading cause of death in America! Where it stands now I don’t know. Maybe worse?
Many times, heart conditions and liver issues are written on death certs as being caused by heart/liver issues (meanwhile the patient was relatively healthy). Newer studies are showing that many many times, these are also antibiotics related.
Read the side effects of an antibiotic. They are dangerous and possible LETHAL!
I’m hoping they can find something that will heal me without killing me, but then – maybe death would be better than the zombie I will become as I will have been aged 30 years from these powerful drugs.
Sure many people don’t have after effects of antibiotics, most have issues months later ‘out of the blue’ that are never related to antibiotics.
here’s thanking the medical community for so carelessly pushing antibiotics without taking cultures. here’s to the medical community that acts like it’s no big deal …
screw those that aren’t ‘healthy’ right?
new flash, I bet those tens of thousands of teenagers getting mrsa in school were pretty darn healthy.
BUT of course that’s what they want us to believe, and keep brainwashing people like this OP to believe with nice literature , free pens and mugs and a cutesy seminar…, after all we wouldn’t want to run down the profit margins of the insurance companies would we?
Naw, let’s take a wait and die approach instead…
“ok” says, “I bet those tens of thousands of teenagers getting mrsa in school were pretty darn healthy”
When they were born, more than two decades ago, I pledged that neither of my children would be subjected to the intellectual and spiritual atrocities of our current Public Education system… the lies… the indoctrination… the cruelty of the social crucible.
I said I would rather not eat than let them suffer that, if financial means were the issue.
Now I see that it is not only their minds and hearts that are at risk, but the physical health of the defenseless children that are the victims of our huge, mindless, socialist, soul-processor.
Get your children out of public school. Do it now. Vote against all levies. Oppose the Marxist teacher’s unions. Work for freedom and academic education. Starve the Beast. Dump the incumbents.