Compliance with Universal Precautions in Correctional Health Care Facilities

Details

• Personal Author:
  Escamilla-Cejudo JA ; Gershon RR ; Green-McKenzie J ; Karkashian CD ; Kastings, Christine ; Kendig N ; Kummer L ; Martin L ; Swetz A ; Vlahov D
• Description:
  There were three main objectives of this cross-sectional study of Maryland State correctional health care workers. The first was to evaluate compliance with work practices designed to minimize exposure to blood and body fluids; the second, to identify correlates of compliance with universal precautions (UPs); and the third was to determine the relationship, if any, between compliance and exposures. Of 216 responding health care workers, 34% reported overall compliance across all 15 items on a compliance scale. Rates for specific items were particularly low for use of certain types of personal protective equipment, such as protective eyewear (53.5%), face mask (47.2%) and protective clothing (33.9%). Compliance rates were highest for glove use (93.2%) waste disposal (89.8%), and sharps disposal (80.8%). Compliance rates were generally not associated with demographic factors, except for age; younger workers were more likely to be compliant with safe work practices than were older workers (P < 0.05). Compliance was positively associated with several work-related variables, including perceived safety climate (i.e., management's commitment to infection control and the overall safety program) and job satisfaction, and was found to be inversely associated with security-related work constraints, job/task factors, adverse working conditions, workplace discrimination, and perceived work stress. Bloodborne exposures were not uncommon; 13.8% of all respondents had at least one bloodborne exposure within the previous 6 months, and compliance was inversely related to blood and body fluid exposures. This study identified several potentially modifiable correlates of compliance, including factors unique to the correctional setting. Infection-control interventional strategies specifically tailored to these health care workers may therefore be most effective in reducing the risk of bloodborne exposures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Blood Blood-Borne Pathogens Body Fluids Correctional Facilities Demography Eye Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Hematologic Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Sense Organs Stress, Psychological

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• Keywords:
  Age-factors Bloodborne-pathogens Body-fluids Correctional-facilities Demographic-characteristics Exposure-levels Eye-protective-equipment Face-masks Health-care-facilities Health-care-personnel Job-stress Occupational-exposure Personal-protective-equipment Prison-workers

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• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  181-189
• Volume:
  41
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024587
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 1999 Mar; 41(3):181-189
• Contact Point Address:
  Robyn R.M. Gershon, MHS, DrPH, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Room 8503, Baltimore, MD 21205
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Performing Organization:
  Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19970401
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20000929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f7b137eb896531592d47c01058912dc8bd9155aeb8666410797d360df3192a8c32de06dc0e130d6dd21a223b7733b7869354ac52345de97eb67f4263d55bd9e5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196329/cdc_196329_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.02 MB ]