Protect yourself

Consistently taking basic precautions is the best way to protect yourself against communicable diseases, stresses Barbara Moody, RN, CIC, manager of infection control at Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas, TX. "Consistency of standard precautions are the best mechanisms for the ED nurse," she says. "Staff cannot afford to be brave and nonchalant in contact with patients’ secretions." Here are some precautions to take:

Wear a mask. "There is a tendency for nurses to wear a mask but forget to cover their eyes, or vice versa, and that’s not okay," says Moody. "If you are going to protect one mucous membrane you’ve got to protect them all."

Wear gloves and change them often. "This is an area that nurses tend to overlook. Are they being changed often enough?" asks Moody. "There needs to be a higher awareness of where your gloved hands have been." About 50% of the time, gloves have holes after you use them just once. "Remember that changing gloves is not just for your protection, but also for the protection of patients," Moody says.

Wash hands often. "For a child with a respiratory complaint such as RSV [respiratory syncytial virus], you’re smart to wear a mask and gown. But for almost anything else, there is hand to mucosal surface contamination so you almost can’t overemphasize how important handwashing is," says F. Keith Battan, MD, FAAP, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. "I see kids with infections 100 times a day and virtually never get sick and I’m sure it’s because I’m a very meticulous hand washer."

Put degermers in the ED. "All of our clerks have degermer solution at their desks, so they’ve got a way to wash their hands without going somewhere else to get to a sink," says Moody.