Home Health Care Registered Nurses and the Risk of Percutaneous Injuries: A Pilot Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gershon RRM ; Pogorzelska M ; Qureshi KA ; Sherman M
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Home health care is the fastest-growing sector in the health care industry, expected to grow 66% over the next 10 years. Yet data on occupational health hazards, including the potential risk of exposure to blood and body fluids, associated with the home care setting remain very limited. As part of a larger study of bloodborne pathogen risk in non-hospital-based registered nurses (RNs), data from 72 home health care nurses were separately analyzed to identify risk of blood/body fluid exposure. METHODS: A 152-item self-administered mailed risk assessment questionnaire was completed by RNs employed in home health care agencies in New York State. RESULTS: Nine (13%) of the home health care nurses experienced 10 needlesticks in the 12-month period before the study. Only 4 of the needlesticks were formally reported to the nurse's employer. The devices most frequently associated with needlesticks were hollow-bore and phlebotomy needles, and included 3 needles with safety features. Exposure was most commonly attributed to patient actions, followed by disposal-related activities. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that home health care nurses may be at potential occupational risk for bloodborne pathogen exposure. Risk management strategies tailored to the home health care setting may be most effective in reducing this risk. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Blood Blood-Borne Pathogens Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Hematologic Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Risk Assessment Safety Surveys And Questionnaires

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• Keywords:
  Bloodborne-pathogens Health-care-personnel Health-services Medical-personnel Medical-screening Medical-surveys Occupational-accidents Occupational-exposure Occupational-health-nursing Occupational-health-services Occupational-medicine Questionnaires Risk-analysis

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• ISSN:
  0196-6553
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  165-172
• Volume:
  36
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20033525
• Citation:
  Am J Infect Control 2008 Apr; 36(3):165-172
• Contact Point Address:
  Department of Sociomedical Studies, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032
• Email:
  rg405@columbia.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Infectious Diseases
• Performing Organization:
  Columbia University Health Sciences, New York, New York
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20000930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Infection Control
• End Date:
  20040929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:84041a4e36ae5f545b8ab612edd2fc738a392241db96087d71e8be183959a0dadc1412cbbe893c3dadde20d17e1798d00f5f97f2ec16ce984dad81afae2437f5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/189063/cdc_189063_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 258.80 KB ]