Mom had a covered wound that had MRSA. She was bed bound. Non mobile. I have friends willing to come pick up the furniture. It’s been since 12-16 that she died. Are they safe doing this? Do I need to find another way to dispose of the furniture- a dresser and a night stand? Is it a bad idea to take it into my home? If I don’t take it who can I call to help me get rid of it. I don’t want to cause harm to my friends.
If you can find the admission agreement/ contract there should be a paragraph regarding disposal / removal of residents property.
It may well be that it is not technically your problem as the contract reads that removal of personal items are the responsibility of the resident &/OR their POA unless you specifically signed off to be personally responsible. Now that she’s deceased, your POA stops with no authority anymore. Once a resident dies, if there’s outstanding bills the MC needs to contact whomever gets appointed as Executor and if there should be a bill to do specialty HA-MRSA hazmat cleaning or storage of personal items that’s upon MC to file as a claim against the estate should probate be opened. Btw for TX you have 4 years from DOD to open probate.
And not to sound an alarm....but I’m going to guess that there’s actually whole other set of issues lurking that this MC doesn’t want to deal with (like their wound care was crappy as MRSA should have gotten dealt with sooner with your mom getting hospitalized for MRSA care) and that the MC as it wasn’t a NH (aka a skilled nursing facility) did not have staff to do proper oversight or evaluation. That’s why they freaked out. MC now wants you to to relieve them of responsibility (like that they made you come and clean out her room). If your mom had MRSA, CDC has a “contact isolation” protocol to be done. Any idea if this place did contact isolation? If not, this MC could be putting others at risk. Anyone with a compromised immune system should not be anywhere near someone with mrsa and caregivers / visitors have to be scrupulously doing contact isolation.
There are 2 types of MRSA, CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA. If she was HA-MRSA, state of TX DHHS has its own set of protocols to be done by facilities (AL, NH &MCs). HA-MRSA can spread quickly and can spiral to C.Diff and then often to VRE and that’s why State has requirements that all facilities must adhere to.
The staphylococcus aureus bacteria that cause MRSA infections can survive for days to weeks on surfaces. MRSA bacteria can live on surfaces for longer than some other bacteria and viruses because they survive better without moisture. Generally, MRSAbacteria survive for longer on hard surfaces than on soft surfaces.
The FDA yesterday warned consumers not to buy hand sanitizers "that claim to prevent infection from MRSA, E. coli, salmonella, flu, or other bacteria or viruses." ... The CDC advice specifically says alcohol-based hand sanitizers help protect against MRSA and other germs.Apr 21, 2011.
https://www.millersville.edu/athletictraining/mrsa/faq.php
The other thing you can do is have your freinds wear gloves.
But it seems to me there should be nothing to worry about moving mom's things.
I would worry about where your mom got MRSA from. I would watch what I touch at the NH. Make sure you have hand sanitizer for you and your friends after touching door knobs and any other surfaces (as a caution). Make sure you and friends don't have any cuts or sores on hands!
People get so afraid of bacteria and viruses that even when they have some medical training they seem to forget these pathology can not live long outside the body. It is like their knowledge goes out the window.