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Showing posts with the label Infections & Viruses

Fighting Infections & Viruses

Infections can range in severity, and depending on the patient, and their overall medical condition, they can easily be fought off, or take a strong course of antibiotics to treat them.  Nurses should be aware of which viruses and infections are highly contagious, and take extra precaution when working with infected patients. Protective gowns, masks, and gloves are essential.  Another consideration is the length of sleeves worn. Many nurses wear a long-sleeved shirt under their scrub top to stay warm. If you opt to do this, be sure to pull sleeves up when working with patients, some bacteria can live on those sleeve sand be transferred.  The rate of nurses getting infections or virus’ from their work environment is actually very low. It is presumed some of this is because nurses buildup immunity after some time, similar to receiving a vaccination. Certain highly contagious strains of bacteria are resistant to treatments, and special procedures and protocols must be followed to