My mother is in rehab facility and has MRSA of the nose but they still want to discharge her before she tests negative?

From CDC dot gov website.
Studies show that about one in three (33%) people carry staph in their nose, usually without any illness. Two in 100 people carry MRSA. There are not data showing the total number of people who get MRSA skin infections in the community.
If it is their policy you probably won't prevail with your moms rehab. Look for another rehab. I'm assuming she needs rehab so going home wouldn't be ideal. Could you call the hospital she was released from and ask for help in getting her placed. I would not want my mom treated for MRSA if she didn't have illness from it. Let us know what you decide.

I worked on a rehab floor of a hospital for many years. Our patients came to us from other parts of the hospital once they were ready for PT. We swabbed everyone's nose upon admittance and almost everyone would come back positive for MRSA. Unless they were symptomatic we didn't treat it.

Did she contract MRSA at the rehab or did she come to the rehab with the MRSA?

The fact that it is resistant staph means that it is very very difficult to treat and cure. In fact, many people that get MRSA have it for the rest of their lives. If the only place she has MRSA is in her nose and other tests have come back negative there are certain treatments they can do (including nasal cremes) that can help. But if she has MRSA in her system its unlikely that she will ever get a negative test again, unless she is very very lucky. The reason the call it MRSA is because there are no standard drugs (antibiotics) that can cure it...or else it would just be a regular staph infection.

As long as she has completed her rehab, it is well within their rights to discharge her. If she is having MRSA symptoms (like infected boils or rashes) she can go to a hospital for treatment but if she is asymptomatic she will just return home ... care will need to be taken not to spread it to anyone else.

Angel