Ok, yes I think I can remember some stuff - firstly you want to have a look for the c diff support forums. It's a good site but please don't mention you're a nurse, if you post, as you'll be the target of people#s anger against the lack of education in the NHS - it's seriously a bit issue for most posters as they have often lost a loved one due to poor hospital management of the condition, so are justifiably annoyed at anyone in the service who doesn't know the basics.
Good on you for wanting to find out though.
Right. Young children are usually NOT seriously affected - it is mainly those who are already suffering from lowered immunity, physically weak etc and elderly who will be likely to be seriously ill or die from c diff.
Everyone else might get quite unwell but will usually recover.
It is not easy to catch. Have you or your children taken antibiotics recently? That is the main risk - you need two things to catch c diff - exposure to the spores PLUS a very unbalanced gut flora, meaning you've taken something that kills off the good bacteria in your intestines. This allows the c diff to take hold and start producing bacteria that attack the gut, you'll then get diarrhoea and discomfort and pain. It can progress into colitis which although quite rare can be serious and kill you.
The next thing you need to know is that nothing kills the spores/bacteria apart from bleach, so you'll need to use a cleaning agent containing 5-10% bleach in order to make sure everything is clean - for your hands, don't bother with alcohol gels, they don't work on c diff (most people don't know this) - you need to scrub your hands for several minutes, using hot water and soap, this basically dislodges any bacteria etc sticking to your hands. It washes them down the sink - it doesn't kill them.
Wash your hands before and after touching the patient or any of their things.
Operate isolation nursing if you can.
It is airborne but only in the sense that spores can travel in the bathroom etc, not by breathing. So the whole bathroom will want bleach cleaning regularly - after every episode of diarrhoea, clean the loo with bleach and flush with the lid down. Clean all taps and handles with bleach too and make sure the patient washes hands thoroughly. Wash everything on 60.
most babies carry c diff in a asymptomaic way until around 18mo, for some reason. Usually children are only mildly affected if they do suffer any symptoms, although it can be serious occasionally.
If you ahev not been on antibiotics then you are at low risk of catching it. But do be careful with the cleaning and washing.
The ignorance within the health service is astounding and has led to deaths, so please try to educate your colleagues as well.
HTH x