Provision and use of safety-engineered medical devices among home care and hospice nurses in North Carolina

Details

• Personal Author:
  Leiss, Jack K.
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Nurses who provide care in the home are at risk of blood exposure from needlesticks. Using safety-engineered medical devices reduces the risk of needlestick. The objectives of this study were to assess provision of safety devices by home care and hospice agencies as well as the use of these devices by home care and hospice nurses in North Carolina, and to examine the association between provision and use. METHODS: A mail survey was conducted among North Carolina home care and hospice nurses in 2006. RESULTS: The adjusted response rate was 69% (n = 833). The percentage of nurses who were always provided with safety devices ranged from 51% (blood tube holders) to 83% (winged steel needles). Ninety-five percent of nurses who were always provided with safety devices, but only 15%-50% of nurses who were not always provided with safety devices, used a safety device the last time they used that general type of device. Among nurses who did not use a safety device on that occasion, 60%-80% did not use it because it was not provided by the agency. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that limited access is the primary reason for home care/hospice nurses' failure to use safety devices. The policy goal of providing safety devices to health care workers in all situations in which such devices could reduce their risk of needlestick is not being achieved for home care nurses in North Carolina. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Blood Blood-Borne Pathogens Delivery Of Health Care Epidemiology Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Hematologic Diseases Hospitals Needlestick Injuries Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Risk Assessment Safety Surveys And Questionnaires

  More +
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Blood Exposure Bloodborne-pathogens Employee-exposure Health-care Health-care-personnel Health-protection Health-services Health-surveys Home Nursing Hospital-equipment Injury-prevention Medical-care Medical-equipment Needlestick Needlestick-injuries Nurses Occupational Exposure Personal-protective-equipment Protective-equipment Protective-measures Risk-analysis Safety-engineering Safety-equipment Safety-practices Survey

  More +
• ISSN:
  0196-6553
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  38
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040916
• Citation:
  Am J Infect Control 2010 Oct; 38(8):636-639
• Contact Point Address:
  Jack K. Leiss, PhD, Epidemiology Research Program, Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, 6919 Lee St, Mebane, NC 27302
• Email:
  jackl@mcmoss.org
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Performing Organization:
  Constella Group - Durham, North Carolina
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Infection Control
• End Date:
  20070630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:598ea7e87d398c7ae58fc623f67733c89955ed5bb7a408c11d2d448330edc8b631e2c39fe7e3bae5f5a3044b4c5bfac3c27be7ee99ee81505a508307edcdba34
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193609/cdc_193609_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 141.50 KB ]