Last updated at 15:42, Friday, 15 June 2012

INFECTION prevention nurse, Yvonne Adamson, works to ensure patients at Furness General Hospital are kept clear from common conditions and “superbugs”. EMMA PRESTON joined Yvonne on one of her rounds, in the seventh part of her exclusive series documenting life behind the scenes at FGH.

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LIKE many people, when I hear the term “MRSA”, I immediately think of newspaper headlines, scandal-hit hospitals and that much bandied-about term, “superbug”.

“A huge part of the population have MRSA,” Yvonne explains.

“You can have it, not know about it and be completely fine.

“The problem is, it can get into your bloodstream, and then you get MRSA bacteraemia.

“That’s what hits the headlines.”

A major part of Yvonne’s job is to prevent this from happening at FGH.

MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus), is a term used to describe any type of Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria that is resistant to the powerful antibiotics of the penicillin group.

Bacteraemia infections are naturally more common in any hospital environment.

Yvonne explains: “If you come into a hospital, you could be having a cannula in, you could have cuts, you could be given blood tests, you could be having surgery – all potential ways bacteria could find a way into the bloodstream.”

Around five years ago, the government began setting annual targets for the number of MRSA bacteraemia cases in hospitals, reducing the benchmark every year.

Nurses like Yvonne, who took her role after 27 years nursing, are responsible for hitting those targets.

But Yvonne tries not to get too caught up in the numbers.

“Targets are important, of course they’re important.” she says.

“But it’s about making sure people are safe, it’s about the impact infections can have on patients and their families and it’s about looking at the bigger picture.”

Today, like any other, Yvonne starts by booting up her computer and checking the list of patients she needs to see.

Last year, the trust’s Cross Bay Infection Prevention Team won one of UHMBT’s Pride of the Bay Awards for their use of electronic patient record base, Lorenzo – something reflected in Yvonne’s enthusiasm for the system.

With everyone admitted having their hospital history on electronic record, she is instantly able to see who has had an infection in the past and add them to her list of patients to review.

“Even if they’ve been cleared of MRSA,” she tells me, “as soon as they’re admitted back into hospital, it comes up on their notes and we know they’ve been a previous case.

“We want to make sure it doesn’t re-occur and if, for some reason, it does, they’re not putting other patients at risk.”

In order to stop infections, FGH staff screen every patient admitted to the hospital for MRSA bacteria.

Those who carry it start “early suppression” treatment – usually in the form of a preventative skin wash – and are added to Yvonne’s patient list.

But it is not just MRSA that infection prevention nurses tackle.

Another major area taking up Yvonne’s time is Clostridium Difficile (C.Diff).

She regularly visits the hospital’s laboratories to see if any patients have tested positive for the infection, and these cases are always prioritised on her list of patients to review.

Other illnesses Yvonne is no stranger to include shingles, TB and measles, and staff will often ring her for advice when treating patients with these and other common contagious conditions.

Part of her job is to keep on top of researching different infectious diseases that can crop up, and new superbugs, which can develop at any time.

And don’t even mention the infamous Norovirus – widely known as the winter vomiting bug – in Yvonne’s presence.

“I don’t take holidays in the winter,” she laughs.

“It’s my busiest time of year.”

Yvonne’s first patient today is a woman who had MRSA bacteria found in her nose.

She has already had one round of suppression treatment and is set to be re-screened.

Yvonne says: “Sometimes you can’t get rid of it, but that doesn’t matter as long as it’s not doing the patient any harm.

“What we’ve got to do is make sure they’re not spreading the bacteria to other patients.”

But, Yvonne adds, that doesn’t mean staff will treat a patient carrying MRSA bacteria differently.

All FGH procedures and routines, including certain ways of taking fluids, hand washing or disposing of waste, for example, are done to a standard designed to prevent any spread of bacteria.

Much of Yvonne’s job is making sure staff across the hospital are doing everything the right way.

She goes on regular ward rounds with the hospital’s microbiologist and carries out regular audits, such as hand hygiene and commode checks, to make sure this is the case.

Yvonne says: “What we do just becomes second nature to everyone, and it’s the good standards on the wards that have brought those infection rates down. “ It’s just making sure that keeps going. Because the staff are so busy, it’s keeping them on the ball.

“We’re there as a constant reminder of what people should be doing.”

Yvonne holds monthly meetings with representatives of every FGH ward, to make sure everyone is pulling their weight in the fight against infection.

“Everybody has a role to play,” she tells me. I couldn’t go round and stop all the infections – no one could – it’s just overseeing the good practice and making sure we all work together.”

Yvonne also runs regular teaching and training sessions for staff, to make sure everyone is kept up-to-date with how things should be done.

“When I was a general nurse,” she tells me, “the infection prevention role was seen as much more stern. “They would come round and tell you off and they were just very strict – they had the knowledge and experience but I don’t think it was shared.

“Our approach nowadays is very different. We want people on board, to explain why we are asking them to do things the way they are, because if people understand it they’re more likely to do it.”

First published at 15:34, Friday, 15 June 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk