Final answer:
A nurse caring for an infant hospitalized with RSV bronchiolitis should implement Contact precautions and consider Droplet precautions. This is necessary due to RSV's contagious nature and its potential for spread through respiratory droplets and fomites.
Step-by-step explanation:
An infant hospitalized for RSV bronchiolitis would require Contact precautions when being cared for by a nurse.
This is due to RSV's ability to spread through respiratory droplets as well as its persistence on environmental surfaces, where it can be transmitted via fomites.
While standard precautions are always applied in the healthcare setting, contact precautions are particularly important for diseases like RSV, which can easily be transmitted from person to person through direct and indirect contact.
The patient's immediate environment and equipment should be thoroughly disinfected, and healthcare workers should wear gloves and gowns when entering the patient's room to minimize the risk of transmission.
In addition to contact precautions, it may be advisable to follow droplet precautions as well, given that RSV can be disseminated through droplets produced during coughing and sneezing.
It is important to note that while droplet and contact precautions are generally recommended, airborne precautions are reserved for diseases that are spread through aerosols that remain infectious over long distances or time periods, which is typically not the case with RSV.