Date of Graduation
2017
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
School of Public Health
Department
Occupational & Environmental Health Sciences
Committee Chair
Michael McCawley
Committee Co-Chair
Anna Allen
Committee Member
David Parke
Committee Member
Gregory Schaefer
Committee Member
Sijin Wen
Abstract
Health Care workers (HCWS) must handle with a variety of occupational exposure. One significant exposure for HCWS in a hospital and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers in out of hospital expose to blood and bodily fluids during the performance of their duties , resulting in concerns regarding transmission of blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). To manage the unpleasant effects of exposure to blood and bodily fluids, HCWs including EMS providers and other health care occupations must completely comply with standard precautions (SPs) recommendations and to attend continuing education regarding blood borne pathogens. In this study, the extent of knowledge, consistency, and practices of SPs were assessed and characteristics of rural and urban EMS providers that predicted lacking compliance with SPs were explored. In addition, this study assessed knowledge of EMS providers regarding Needle stick injuries. Finally, this study evaluated blood and bodily fluids exposure incidents among HWCs in hospital in general.
Recommended Citation
Alhazmi, Riyadh, "Occupational Exposure to Blood and Bodily Fluids among Health Care Workers" (2017). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 5065.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/5065