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Adverse Exposures and Universal Precautions Practices Among a Group of Highly Exposed Health Professionals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Mary E. Willy ,
Gita L. Dhillon ,
Nancy L. Loewen ,
Robert A. Wesley  and
David K. Henderson
Mary E. Willy*
Affiliation:
The Hospital Epidemiology Service, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Gita L. Dhillon
Affiliation:
The Georgetown University School of Nursing, Washington, D.C.
Nancy L. Loewen
Affiliation:
The Georgetown University School of Nursing, Washington, D.C.
Robert A. Wesley
Affiliation:
The Information Systems Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
David K. Henderson
Affiliation:
The Hospital Epidemiology Service, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland The Office of the Director, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
*
Hospital Epidemiology Service, Building 10, Room 11N223, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892
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Abstract

An anonymous national survey of a representative population of healthcare workers who were thought likely to have frequent and intensive exposures to blood and other body fluids (certified nurse-midwives [CNMs]), was conducted to assess the type and frequency of self-reported occupational exposures to blood and body fluids experienced, the extent to which barrier precautions and other infection control measures were used, whether or not reported use of barriers was associated with a lower perceived rate of exposures and factors that influenced the use of infection control procedures.

Of those responding, 74% had soiled their hands with blood at least one time in the preceding six months, 51% had splashed blood or amniotic fluid in their faces and 24% reported one or more needlestick injuries during that same period. Our study also found evidence of an association between the practice of needle recapping and the occurrence of needlestick injury (p = .003). Despite a high level of training and knowledge, only 55% reported routinely practicing universal precautions (UPs).

Several factors that potentially influenced the use of UPS were studied, including healthcare worker perceptions of risk of occupational bloodborne infection, knowledge of routes of transmission of bloodborne pathogens and rationale for not using appropriate barriers. Our data suggest that occupational exposures occur frequently and that healthcare workers' (HCWs') perceptions of risk for occupational infection play an important role in influencing use of UPS. This study emphasizes the importance of developing new strategies for UP training.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 11 , Issue 7 , July 1990 , pp. 351 - 356
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1990

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