Compliance with universal precautions and needle handling and disposal practices among emergency department staff at two community hospitals

Details

• Personal Author:
  Campbell S ; Collier P ; Henry K ; Williams C
• Description:
  Direct observation and a self administered survey were used to investigate compliance of emergency department health care workers in two community hospitals with universal precautions. The two privately owned hospitals were located in suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota, an area of low human immunodeficiency virus seroprevalence. The study was focused on needle handling and disposal. A total of 1,822 procedures were recorded. Registered nurses observed emergency department personnel for a total of 400 hours. The observers documented the use of gowns, goggles, masks and gloves. The needle disposal and frequency of needle recapping were also noted. Gloves were used when appropriate 67.2% of the time, followed by goggles at 50.7%, masks at 16.0%, and gowns at 15.3%. In all cases self reported barrier rates were slightly higher except for goggle use. About one third of all needles were recapped and 78.1% of these were recapped two handed. The authors conclude that the compliance with universal precautions is low at community hospitals. They also note that the workers are not fully aware of their level of compliance. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Communicable Diseases Health Personnel Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Viral Diseases
• Keywords:
  AIDS-virus Health-care-personnel Infection-control Infectious-diseases NIOSH-Cooperative-Agreement NIOSH-Publication Personal-protective-equipment Protective-clothing Risk-factors Viral-infections Work-practices

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• ISSN:
  0196-6553
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  129-137
• Volume:
  22
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00221837
• Citation:
  Am J Infect Control 1994 Jun; 22(3):129-137
• Contact Point Address:
  Keith Henry, MD, HIV/AIDS Programs, Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center, 640 Jackson St, St Paul, MN 55101
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Infection Control
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:84d0173e886424590c4a68cfc85fa765806300acea3fc449a61ecdfd7ec8f6039ba02cbc2636a6718bd5629cf85540dbe69cc0d39af68ed4bb12f2a3e4d9dd3f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/204386/cdc_204386_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.62 MB ]