MRSA precautions and isolation

• Hand hygiene with soap and water or alcohol gel before and after every contact
• Gown and gloves for close care, removed and binned before leaving the room
• A single room where possible, or a bay shared only with other MRSA patients
• Dedicated equipment — the patient's own blood-pressure cuff, thermometer and stethoscope, or thorough wiping between patients
• Linen and waste bagged in the room
• More frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces, and a deep clean when the room is vacated
• A sign on the door so everyone entering knows the precautions

MRSA moves on hands, gloves, sleeves, equipment and bed rails, not through the ventilation system. Negative-pressure rooms and respirator masks — used for tuberculosis or measles — are not part of MRSA care. The exception is MRSA pneumonia, where droplet precautions such as a surgical mask are added because coughing spreads respiratory secretions. The full explanation is on is MRSA airborne?

Being placed on precautions is not a judgement and it does not reduce your care. You should still get your scans, physiotherapy and surgery; wounds are covered and departments are told in advance. Ask staff to clean their hands if you did not see them do it — that is welcomed, not rude.

Isolation can feel lonely, and studies have found patients on contact precautions are visited less often by staff. Say so if it is affecting you; nursing teams can plan around it.

• Wash or gel your hands going in and coming out — this matters more than anything else
• A gown and gloves are usually only needed if you are helping with personal care, wound care or moving the patient
• Do not sit on the bed, and avoid moving between patients
• Do not visit if you have an open wound, skin condition or infection of your own
• Follow the sign on the door; policies differ between hospitals

Many hospitals keep precautions for the whole admission and flag the record so they restart at the next one. Others clear patients after two or three negative screening swabs taken on separate days, off antibiotics, once any wound has healed. Because carriage can persist for months, clearance is never assumed without testing — colonisation and carriage explains why.

Home is not a hospital ward, and the measures are much lighter. Keep wounds covered with a clean dry dressing, wash your hands after touching them, seal used dressings in a bag before binning, avoid sharing towels and razors, wash towels and bedding hot and tumble dry, and wipe high-touch surfaces regularly. You do not need to isolate from your family, sleep separately or use separate crockery. The detail is on MRSA at home and how long MRSA lives on surfaces.