With the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome spreading in South Korea, it has brought up questions here in the U.S. with regards to how MERS should be handled in the hospital setting. The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses put together a guide to MERS in the perioperative setting to address those questions.
According to AORN, surgical procedures for patients with a confirmed or suspected MERS infection should be taken on a case-by-case basis. Perioperative professionals should screen for the following prior to surgery:
- Fever
- Symptoms of respiratory illness like pneumonia, cough or shortness of breath
- Close contact with someone who had a confirmed MERS case
- Travel to a country with ongoing MERS transmission — like South Korea and countries in the Arabian Peninsula — in the last two weeks
When caring for patients with MERS, perioperative professionals should follow standard, contact and airborne precautions, according to AORN guidelines.