Considerations
Family Members and Visitors
➤ Emphasize the importance of hand hygiene by all family members and
visitors in preventing the transmission of organisms
➤ Consistently model proper hand hygiene
➤ Require all family members and visitors to perform proper hand
hygiene when:
• Entering and exiting the NICU
• Before and after each contact with the infant(s)
➤ Encourage and promote skin-to-skin care and breastfeeding, despite
the parent or infant's MRSA infection or colonization status
➤ When an infant or parent is colonized with MRSA, family members and
visitors are not required to use PPE while caring for their infant(s)
➤ When a parent has active MRSA infection:
• Encourage skin-to-skin care and breastfeeding, while taking into consideration
the location of the parent's MRSA lesion, the ability to control drainage, and the
likelihood of the infant's contact with the lesion
• Do not require the parent to wear a gown or gloves if drainage is contained, the
site of the infection is covered, and strict hand hygiene practices are followed
• Consider routine screening of infant(s), e.g. weekly if parents have active MRSA
infections.
Multiple Gestations with Discordant MRSA Status
➤ Use contact isolation for MRSA-colonized infants. Consider contact
precautions for the noncolonized infant(s).
➤ Encourage skin-to-skin care to promote parent–infant bonding.
Emphasize hand hygiene to prevent organism transfer to the
noncolonized infant(s).
➤ Consider having parents perform skin-to-skin care with the noncolonized
infant prior to skin-to-skin care with the MRSA-colonized infant.
➤ Encourage breastfeeding regardless of an infant's MRSA status.
➤ Units:
• Should strongly consider routine screening of noncolonized infants (e.g., weekly,
biweekly) with MRSA-colonized or infected siblings in the NICU.
