Question

ase Scenario # 1

Your patient has been undergoing outpatient treatment for leukemia and was hospitalized in the critical care unit last week with pneumonia and respiratory failure. His pneumonia was diagnosed as community-acquired MRSA. He was transferred to your oncology floor 2 days ago. Before you enter the room, you perform hand hygiene and don an isolation gown, gloves, and a mask. As you enter the room, your patient says, “Finally, someone comes in here. I feel like an alien, and you are dressed like one.”  

   1.   How do Contact Precautions differ from Standard Precautions?

   2.   Identify reasons staff members may want to avoid taking care of this patient or entering his room.

   3.   Reflect on possible ways to respond to this patient. What are his concerns? What might he be feeling? How might you communicate with him considering these things?

   4.   Decide how you will talk with other members of the healthcare team about the patient’s observation and concerns. Explore possible ways to approach the subject with other staff members.

Answer 1

1.The way to differentiate contact precautions and standard precautions are

Standard precautions	Contact precautions
Commonly followed for all patients Need to don in very patient and they are less ill A standard use of mask gloves is mandatory	Specifically followed for certain infectious case where transmission is possible if only standard precautions is used They are highly contagious on contact A complete drape from head to toe us required

2.The reason for staff members to avoid these types of patient are

• High contagious case
• No appropriate treatment
• Fear of being infected besides following contact precautions
• Need extra effort and work to care for these patients

3.The possible ways to respond are

• Inform the patient it is mandatory to follow these precautions in these types of infection. This can benefit both patient and the staff
• Provide psychological support and communicate with the patient .This can help the patient to be relaxed by conversing his needs to a professional.This can remove the negative feelings and give a sense of hope and confidence
• Communicate in a friendly and optimistic way to get rid of isolation feeling in the patient

4.The patient's observation and concerns can be communicated to the team by an interprofessional communication approach. This can help them to discuss about the plan of care needed .The team can plan a care whicheets his physiological and psychological needs.