Anesthesia Providers Adherence to the Use of Gloves and Eye Protection
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to determine anesthesia provider adherence to universal precautions, specifically the use of gloves and eye protection. With documented poor adherence to the use of personal protective equipment, anesthesia providers place themselves at risk for occupational exposure to potentially contaminated blood and body fluids on a daily basis. In 1987, the Centers for Disease Control published universal precautions with the basic premise that all patients and their blood and body fluids are to be considered potentially infected. To date, 54 health care workers have seroconverted after having occupational exposure to HIV. Questionnaires were distributed to 33 anesthesia providers with 28 usable surveys returned (85%). Eighteen providers were observed while performing anesthesia related procedures. Survey data revealed that nearly 60% of anesthesia providers are 100% compliant with the use of gloves while performing oropharyngeal procedures, such as laryngoscopy, extubation, and suctioning. However, less than 25% of providers use eye protection 100% of the time when performing these same procedures. Less than 36% providers stated that they were 100% compliant with the use of gloves when performing venous/arterial access procedures. Remarkably, none of the providers surveyed stated that they were 100% compliant with changing their gloves after performing tasks in which their gloves would be contaminated. Observation data showed that nearly 100% of providers used gloves for five procedures that were determined to be high risk for being exposed to a patient's blood or body fluids. The observed use of eye protection was significantly low,corresponding to the provider's survey data.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- AD1012147
Entities
People
- Brian T. Koonce
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences