BLOODBORNE EXPOSURE MANAGEMENT

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Proposed is a collaborative, multidisciplinary, cross-sectional study designed to characterize and assess employee compliance with the Public Health Service Guidelines for the management of bloodborne exposures. The purpose of the study is to identify barriers related to compliance that might hinder employees receiving recommended post-exposure care. Agencies representing five different employee groups will assist in identifying a sample frame consisting of seven thousand employees at risk of exposure, including hospital-based and non-hospital based health care workers (e.g., nurses and correctional health care workers) and public safety employees (e.g., emergency medical service employees, correctional officers and police officers). Employees will be recruited to complete a survey on bloodborne exposures and post-exposure treatment and follow-up care. We hypothesize that both worker- centered and organizational factors may serve as barriers to compliance with exposure reporting and post-exposure treatment protocols, therefore the questionnaire will address both constructs (e.g., misperception of risk, lack of knowledge, lack of organizational resources, lack of training, etc.). Data will be analyzed using logistic regression techniques. Survey data will then be provided to participatory action research teams composed of representatives of the study groups. The teams will work collaboratively with researchers to identify data driven strategies (both worker-centered and organizational) to improve compliance with post-exposure guidelines. This study will identify barriers to appropriate implementation of the Guidelines and allow us to focus our energies and resources on specific improvements in order to minimize the risk of infection to exposed employees.