MRSA Rates Tied to Hospital Understaffing

Efficiencies are great, but according to the study, MRSA has a stronghold on hospitals due to the lack of enough staff to take care of patients.  The ration of association between health care worker to patient has an impact on infection rates as well.  MRSA still continues to haunt hospitals and the main emphasis is still on washing hands, but in the UK more drastic measures have been instituted in the past, such as doctors no longer wearing ties or the white jackets, as they may not be laundered as often and can carry the virus.  BD 

TUESDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) -- Overcrowding and understaffing can cause a breakdown in the control of methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) in hospitals, Australian researchers report. The team at the School of Population Health, University of Queensland, noted that hospitals in many high-income countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States have reduced the number of available beds but have increased the number of people being treated as outpatients.

For example, overworked doctors, nurses and other hospital staff are less likely to wash their hands, which is an essential component of MRSA control.

MRSA Rates Tied to Hospital Understaffing - washingtonpost.com