The effects of an educational "Alert" on hospital policy making: communication, organizational change and occupational latex allergy.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Lachemeyer S ; Lewis J ; Maxfield A ; Tisdale J
• Description:
  Introduction: Latex allergy is a growing problem in the health care setting. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates that 8 to 12% of regularly exposed health care workers are sensitized to latex. Hospitals can adopt a number of different policies to reduce the risk of latex allergy to employees, including reducing or eliminating the use of powdered latex gloves. Methods: This study will examine whether a NIOSH educational "Alert," "Preventing Allergic Reactions to Natural Rubber Latex in the Workplace," influenced the adoption of policies by hospitals. Hospitals nationwide were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions or a control group. There were two independent variables manipulated in the treatment conditions: the target for the mailing within the organization (Director of Infection Control or Director of Nursing), and the presence or absence of a tailored persuasive message. A random selection of 50 hospitals from each treatment condition (for a total of 200) and 100 in the control condition are being surveyed by the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School between 10 to 3 0 days after the Alert was distributed and again at 3 months. Results: The analysis will examine the knowledge and attitudes of the targeted individuals as far as occupational latex allergy, their personal intentions to act on the issue, as well as their hospital's present and future occupational latex allergy policies and practices. Organizational and diffusion theory was used to characterize hospitals' organizational stage of change and identify environmental and internal predictors of this change. The study will also identify the effects of the "Alert" and whether these effects varied by the targeted individual who received the document and/or an additional persuasive message.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Asbestos Dust Environmental Monitoring Inorganic Chemicals Occupational Health Preceptorship Safety Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Attitude Exposure Levels Health Care Health Care Facilities Health Care Personnel Health Care Workers Latex Latex Allergies Medical Facilities Risk Factors Sensitization Treatment Work Environment Workers

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• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OD - Office of the Director
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  66
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047974
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the 7th Joint Science Symposium on Occupational Safety and Health, October 26-27 1998, Hidden Valley, Pennsylvania. Cincinnati, OH: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,1998 Oct; :66
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the 7th Joint Science Symposium on Occupational Safety and Health, October 26-27 1998, Hidden Valley, Pennsylvania
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1ebdefc8531e19c10cf0df73ed708632d9add278b50d6bf1b8df66304ff052642c487cf4895781af22f688c66f25b83273c961d9fd9ba9115db67b5fe69e2414
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/181699/cdc_181699_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 43.17 KB ]