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Evaluation of Policies Regarding Physicians Infected With Blood-Borne Pathogens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Cherie Ng  and
John Swartzberg
Cherie Ng*
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California
John Swartzberg
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California
*
Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Box 357238, Seattle, WA 98195[email protected]
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Abstract

Objective:

Formulating an effective approach to preventing surgeon-to-patient transmission of blood-borne pathogens has been controversial. The objective of our study was to evaluate current community hospital policies, if any, regarding restrictions on surgeons (general surgeons and obstetricians and gynecologists) infected with blood-borne pathogens operating on patients.

Design:

A survey on hospital policies regarding surgeons infected with blood-borne pathogens was sent to infection control officers at Northern California community hospitals (n = 113).

Results:

Forty-five hospitals responded to the survey. Of these, only 6 (13.3%) had a policy. Of the 39 (86.7%) that did not have a policy, only 3 hospitals were planning on implementing one.

Conclusions:

Many community hospitals are uninterested in instituting a policy regarding the practice of surgeons infected with blood-borne pathogens. Possible reasons include the lack of concern on the individual level, difficulty in defining exposure-prone procedures, and the nature of the relationship between medical staff and community hospitals.

Type
Orginal Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , April 2005 , pp. 410 - 414
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2005

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