title: [Occupational risk of exposure to blood in nurses. Results of a one-year monitoring of the risk for nurses in 17 hospitals].
abstract: To evaluate the incidence of risk factors for exposure of health care providers to patients' blood, a prospective multicenter study was carried out in 1990 in 17 hospitals in continental France. 521 nurses from 20 departments of medicine and 9 intensive care nurses participated in the study. Trained investigators documented exposures to blood using a standardized questionnaire and carried out monthly 24 hours cross-sectional surveys to determine the number of high risk procedures performed on a given day. One hundred and eighty-three exposures to blood were documented, for an incidence of 0.35/nurse/year. Needle-stick injuries were the most common events (75%). Exposure to blood occurred during a sampling procedure in 48% of cases, an infusion-related procedure in 20% of cases, and an injection in 17% of cases. Comparisons of rates of procedures associated with needle-stick injuries and of procedures performed during a typical day demonstrated differences in the magnitude of the risk associated with each procedure: infusion-related procedures carried the greatest risk, followed by venous blood sampling procedures. Sixty-four percent of exposures to blood occurred after completion of the procedure. Forty-nine percent of documented exposures to blood would probably not have occurred if universal infection control recommendations (CDC, DGS) had been implemented. Twenty-seven percent of exposures to blood involved HIV-positive patients, who accounted for only 7% of patients managed in the participating centers during the study period.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: GERES (Groupe d'Etudes sur le Risque d'Exposition au Sang), Vanves, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Abiteboul
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Antona
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fourrier
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brücker
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Descamps
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leprince
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pernet
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bouvet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000150:complications*; D001769:Blood; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous / Q000009:adverse effects; D007267:Injections / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
vernacular_title: Exposition accidentelle au sang du personnel soignant. Résultats d'un an de surveillance du risque pour les infirmières dans 17 hôpitaux.