Study on primary prevention of blood borne pathogens among nursing staff of teaching hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Introduction: Primary prevention is the most important and effective way to prevent bloodborne pathogens in healthcare workers. This study aimed to evaluate primary prevention which includes compliance with standard precautions (SPs) and vaccination against hepatitis B in nursing staff of three teaching hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited nursing staff of three teaching hospitals. Data were collected by a questionnaire with proper reliability and validity. Results: Of the 397 nurses, 86.9% were female. Most frequent full compliance with SPs pertained to wearing gloves before touching mucous membranes or non-intact skin of patients (64.8%), wearing gloves before touching blood and body fluids (59.6%) and putting the used needles and syringes in the safety box (56.4%). More than 96 percent (96.2%) of the nursing staff had received complete hepatitis B vaccination and 76.8% of the staff with full vaccination had been tested for the level of HBs antibody. Mean and standard deviation of the total score of compliance with SPs were 1.95±0.47 (out of 3). Compliance with SPs was unfavorable in 51.4% of the staff. Logistic regression analysis showed that exposure to blood and body fluids (OR=2.16, 95% CI: 1.29-3.78) and age group (OR=1.75, 95% CI: 1.12-2.85) were the predictor variables for the status of compliance with SPs. Conclusion: This study showed that compliance with SPs was not favorable in nurses. Therefore, proper managerial and educational interventions should be designed for promoting compliance.