Bloodborne pathogen transmission from healthcare worker to patients. Legal issues and provider perspectives.
Health-care providers have an obvious, primary obligation to patients. Yet providers also have obligations to the public health (society), their institutional or individual self-interests, and their employees (fellow health-care workers). These obligations contain inherent conflicts, and attempts to reconcile the conflicts often perpetuate contradictions. This article identifies and discusses some of the moral and legal bases of these conflicts.
D017848:Blood-Borne Pathogens; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology / Q000635:transmission; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D017757:Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016365:Liability, Legal; D009014:Morals; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States