Increased Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Hotline Utilization During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Unexpected Phenomenon

Details

• Personal Author:
  Blanc PD ; Chan N ; Domeracki S ; Domingo G ; Guntur S ; Kiok M ; Kosnik R ; Lozato O ; Ramos A ; Ugbaja CE
• Description:
  Background: Mitigating bloodborne pathogen exposure (BBPE) risk among healthcare workers is a major focus of hospital-based occupational health programs. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed added demands on occupational health services for healthcare workers. Its impact on BBPE incidence is unreported. Methods: As part of quality improvement efforts, we examined BBPE case incidence at two affiliated health centers during a 24-month period, 12 months preceding and following the COVID-19 pandemic onset. We used Year 1 to Year 2 change in incidence at the larger health center as the referent value to generate predicted incidence rates at the study health center. We tested the ratio of observed to predicted values at the study health center as a Poisson variable to its expectation. We defined a BBPE consistent with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogens Standard. Results: The BBPE case incidence at Health Center One (HC1), totaled 46 cases in Year 1, increasing 19% to 55 cases in Year 2. The cumulative incidence at Health Center Two (HC2), the referent facility, was 664 cases in Year 1, declining 24% to 503 in Year 2. The ratio of 55 events at HC1 to the expected incidence of 35, based on the experience at HC2, was 1.6 (p < .05). Discussion/Applications to Practice: The incidence of BBPE events at HC1 paradoxically increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, contrasting to the expected decrease that we observed at HC2. These data suggest that during times of increased stress to employee healthcare delivery from an infectious disease outbreak, the burden of ongoing practice demands may increase. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Blood Blood-Borne Pathogens Body Fluids Communicable Diseases Epidemiology Health Personnel Hematologic Diseases Needlestick Injuries Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Bloodborne Pathogens Body Fluids Coronavirus COVID-19 Employee Health Health Care Workers Healthcare Workers Infectious Diseases Needlestick Needlestick Injuries Occupational Health Sharp Injury Sharps

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• ISSN:
  2165-0799
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  278-284
• Volume:
  70
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066237
• Citation:
  Workplace Health Saf 2022 Jun; 70(6):278-284
• Contact Point Address:
  Sandra Domeracki, MSN, FNP-APRN, FAAOHN, San Francisco Veterans Affairs HealthCare System, 4150 Clement St. Building 200, BB-18, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA
• Email:
  Sandra.Domeracki@ucsf.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Workplace Health & Safety
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ed7f8bdfd19405eb6ce7e7b657db1be6a65479bed0f27b4ee33a379fedfbbc5133b2538cb7882a34c6545b7ee7ecba2e343e44bae619729823eb9011d0b6901d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/212722/cdc_212722_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 299.09 KB ]