Risk of bloodborne pathogen exposure among Zambian healthcare workers.

Purpose: Understanding the risks of bloodborne pathogen transmission is fundamental to prioritizing interventions when resources are limited. This study investigated the risks to healthcare workers in Zambia.

Design: A survey was completed anonymously by a convenience sample of workers in three hospitals and two clinics in Zambia.

Disposal of sharps medical waste in the United States: impact of recommendations and regulations, 1987-2007.

Background: To gauge the impact of regulatory-driven improvements in sharps disposal practices in the United States over the last 2 decades, we analyzed percutaneous injury (PI) data from a national surveillance network from 2 periods, 1993-1994 and 2006-2007, to see whether changes in disposal-related injury patterns could be detected.

Methods: Data were derived from the EPINet Sharps Injury Surveillance Research Group, established in 1993 and coordinated by the International Healthcare Worker Safety Center at the University of Virginia. For the period 1993-1994, 69 hospitals contributed data; the combined average daily census for the 2 years was 24,495, and the total number of PIs reported was 7,854.

Increase in sharps injuries in surgical settings versus nonsurgical settings after passage of national needlestick legislation.

Background: The operating room is a high-risk setting for occupational sharps injuries and bloodborne pathogen exposure. The requirement to provide safety-engineered devices, mandated by the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act of 2000, has received scant attention in surgical settings.

Study Design: We analyzed percutaneous injury surveillance data from 87 hospitals in the United States from 1993 through 2006, comparing injury rates in surgical and nonsurgical settings before and after passage of the law.

Increase in sharps injuries in surgical settings versus nonsurgical settings after passage of national needlestick legislation.

Background: The operating room is a high-risk setting for occupational sharps injuries and bloodborne pathogen exposure. The requirement to provide safety-engineered devices, mandated by the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act of 2000, has received scant attention in surgical settings.

Study Design: We analyzed percutaneous injury surveillance data from 87 hospitals in the United States from 1993 through 2006, comparing injury rates in surgical and nonsurgical settings before and after passage of the law.

The impact of U.S. policies to protect healthcare workers from bloodborne pathogens: the critical role of safety-engineered devices.

In the United States (U.S.), federal legislation requiring the use of safety-engineered sharp devices, along with an array of other protective measures, has played a critical role in reducing healthcare workers' (HCWs) risk of occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens over the last 20 years.

Bloodborne pathogen exposure risk among surgeons in sub-Saharan Africa.

To document the frequency and circumstances of bloodborne pathogen exposures among surgeons in sub-Saharan Africa, we surveyed surgeons attending the 2006 Pan-African Association of Surgeons conference. During the previous year, surgeons sustained a mean of 3.1 percutaneous injuries, which were typically caused by suture needles.

Infected health care workers and patient safety: a double standard.

US policy regarding health care worker-to-patient transmission of bloodborne pathogens, issued in 1991, is flawed. We review current evidence of such nosocomial infections and conclude that a standardized national policy is needed, which includes improved surveillance and follow-up of blood exposures to patients and targeted practice restrictions for infected practitioners performing exposure-prone procedures.

Shield staff from occupational exposure.

Use this list to target risky devices and practices in your clinical area and reduce occupational exposures to bloodborne pathogens.