VA program slashes MRSA infection rates

I hope that the VA is not just slashing expensive treatments as was the case with me. I have had recurring MRSA x 10 months which I caught when I was a physical therapy assistant VA employee. Not only was the VA not willing to treat me for MRSA the flat out denied I had it, in spite of my two positive MRSA cultures. One of which was in the blood. I was told "you have a bum leg" and "you are not sick enough to have it in your blood". I was forced to leave the VA system and use my private insurance which cost me more that $6000.00 for 6 weeks of IV treatments to get this stuff out of my blood. Good job VA!! This is one way to get your costs down. In the mean time I hope I don't die. - Melissa_78231@yahoo.com

Maybe MRSA wouldn't have crossed over to the community if attention had been paid to preventing the transmission of any nosocomial infections in hospitals.

Agreed. Nosocomial infections are symptomatic of a bigger problem... and not just inconsistent hand-washing. When Quality & Health Policy insist on rigorous oversight, then we'll see HUGE reductions in unnecessary infections. Until then, they are guilty of endorsing neglect by omission... starting with random drug-testing. We all know abuse and addiction are very significant. How bad? A heroin-addicted ICU-RN is trusted with morphine decisions, right here in the City of Brotherly Love. Oh btw, she prostituted before, during and AFTER school & licensure. Can you say Mersa, HepC, HIV?? But God forbid we have random drug testing of ALL students & staff in our teaching hospitals. They'd rather protect their own, and allow an untrustworthy chemically-challenged/ ethically-compromised 3input-hooker druggie pumping morphine into the trusting sick & dying. But hey, let's make sure MLBaseball is clean of HGH & steroids. My namesake is rolling in his grave....

VAMC in FL. MRSA went to the Nursing Managements brain. How Nursing management pays themselves off by distorting and falsifying. Upper nurse manager making up her own leave policy and forcing implementation by threats and intimidation to middle management to go along with her personal leave policy which was never in writing. How the inpatient psych dept. collects disability checks for their homeless psych patients, as those patients remain homeless. The patients enter the ER. for admission as needed, then discharge from unit shortly after. These patients admit/discharge over a thirty day period range from 4-6 times. Which leaves no room for our returning Iraq vets with SI/PTSD, Iraq vets not given proper care or taken serious by nursing staff, and treated with no respect. The lack of compassion from the Emergency room nurses and 3C nursing assistants, 3C nursing assistants who get away with rude behavior to the patients and also talk bad about other hospital staff in order to provoke patient aggressions toward hospital staff members. Nursing Management not doing anything about these disturbances. As a matter of fact, the Nursing Management can not answer for Bonus $. not given to vet employees (missing paperwork or it never got to nursing office) and discrimination against the full time veteran employees (vets of Vietnam and Iraq employees) as they are targets, singled out by Nursing management with write up so as not to have to give bonuses to the vet.employees. Bonus $ went in Nursing (upper management 3-4 of them) Managements pockets.