How to prevent transmission of RSV
How to prevent transmission of RSV
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is known to be transmitted within the hospital setting, warns Jennifer Dearman, RN, BN, charge nurse at the pediatric ED at Loma Linda (CA) University Medical Center and Children’s Hospital.
"Patients should be identified early for testing, and isolated and cohorted in a timely manner," she says. "Careful handwashing and isolation procedures will minimize transmission."
RSV is transmitted by droplet from infected patients when direct or close contact with contaminated secretions occurs, Dearman explains. "The virus can exist on surfaces as well as the hands of health care personnel."
Mask, gown, gloves, wash
The best way to prevent the transmission of RSV is by making sure you wear a mask, gown, and gloves, and by making sure physicians and nurses wash hands and stethoscopes, says Carol Ledwith, MD, FAAP, an attending physician in the ED at Children’s Hospital in Denver.
If a child is suspected to have RSV, they are not put in a room with another child unless they have been tested, says Maggie Huey, RN, BSN, MHA, medical director of emergency services at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, TX. The hospital has four negative flow rooms in the ED, she says.
"When the nurse in triage identifies a possible candidate, we take them straight back to one of those rooms," Huey says. "Some of those kids come in respiratory distress, so we need to stabilize them first; but at the same time, be thinking about RSV transmission."
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