Protecting Healthcare Personnel: Making the Case for Better Use of PPE, Eye Protection to Prevent Sharps Injuries and Blood/Body Fluid Exposures
By Kelly M. Pyrek
Even as the healthcare sector begins to expand its former laser focus on respiratory infections only due to the COVID-19 pandemic, recently released data indicate the need to keep sharp object injuries and blood and body fluid exposures from falling off the collective radar.
Ensuring the occupational health of caregivers is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Core Infection Prevention and Control Practices for Safe Healthcare Delivery in All Settings. These recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) call for ensuring that healthcare personnel either receive immunizations or have documented evidence of immunity against vaccine-preventable diseases; implement processes and sick leave policies to encourage healthcare personnel to stay home when they develop signs or symptoms of acute infectious illness; and implementing a system for healthcare personnel to report signs, symptoms, and diagnosed illnesses that may represent a risk to their patients and coworkers. It also recommends adherence to “federal and state standards and directives applicable to protecting healthcare workers against transmission of infectious agents, including OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, Personal Protective Equipment Standard, Respiratory Protection standard and TB compliance directive.”
As the CDC notes, “Healthcare personnel can be exposed to potentially infectious blood, tissues, secretions, other body fluids, contaminated medical supplies, devices, and equipment, environmental surfaces, or air in healthcare settings. Mechanisms of occupational exposures include percutaneous injuries such as needlesticks, mucous membrane or non-intact skin contact via splashes or sprays, and inhalation of aerosols. Healthcare personnel can also be exposed to infectious diseases in the community and risk transmitting them to others at work. Appropriate management of potentially infectious exposures and illnesses among healthcare personnel can prevent the development and transmission of infections. Effective management of exposures and illnesses includes promptly assessing exposures and diagnosing illness, monitoring for the development of signs and symptoms of disease and providing appropriate postexposure or illness management. Providing exposure and illness management services also affords the opportunity for counseling to address healthcare personnel concerns about issues such as potential infection, adverse effects of postexposure prophylaxis, and work restrictions.”
The CDC adds that a substantial number of potentially infectious exposures occur in the workplace, despite longstanding regulations and guidelines in place for their prevention and providing timely and effective exposure management services can be challenging. Bloodborne pathogen exposures among healthcare personnel are significantly underreported, some experts say. Time constraints, fear of reprimand, lack of information on how to report exposures, and cost coverage of exposure management have been identified as factors in not reporting exposures. While many healthcare personnel may be guaranteed cost coverage for job-related exposure and illness by workers’ compensation laws, not all healthcare personnel, such as volunteers and trainees, may have this benefit.
Read further from the August 2022 issue HERE