Study tracks bacteria from patients to nurse’s scrubs and patients to rooms

Editor's Note

A study by Duke University researchers, which followed 40 ICU nurses, found 22 cases in which at least one of five drug-resistant bacteria was transmitted from the patient or the room to the nurse’s scrubs or from the patient to the room. The study was presented October 27 at IDWeek 2016.

In six instances, bacteria spread from patient to nurse and room to nurse. In 10 instances, bacteria were transmitted from the patient to the room.

The pockets and sleeves of the nurses’ scrubs were the parts of clothing that were most likely to be contaminated, and the bed rails were the most likely places in the room to be contaminated.

No instances of nurse-to-patient or nurse-to-room transfer were found.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Hospital rooms, not just the patients in them, can spread germs through contact with health care personnel, a Duke Health study reports. "This study is a good wake-up call that health care personnel need to concentrate on the idea that the health care environment can be contaminated," said Deverick Anderson, M.D., the study's lead author and associate professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine.