Staph Infections

Staphylococcus aureus, or Staph, is a very common bacterium that can reside on our skin as our normal flora. Most of the time it does not make us sick, but sometimes it can cause serious problems such as pneumonia or blood infections. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is harder to kill because it is resistant to some antibiotics that are normally used to treat infections caused by Staph.

How are we working to prevent MRSA?

We have not had any hospital-acquired MRSA bloodstream infections in more than two years. This success rate reflects on our nurses’ skill and training. We train nurses to “scrub the hub” of IV catheters for at least five seconds prior to injections and change IV lines on a regular schedule.