title: Nurses with blood-borne pathogens and the moral responsibilities of nurse regulating authorities.
abstract: This paper examines, for consideration by nurses and nurse regulating authorities (NRA), certain ethical and practice issues concerning registered/enrolled nurses with blood-borne pathogens (BBPs), such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis Viruses. Under existing legislation, the identity and infectious status of a nurse with a BBP may be notified to a NRA by either a medical practitioner or another person. In the event of a notification being made, NRAs need to consider the question of how best to achieve a workable balance between protecting the significant moral interests of both the public and the nurse concerned. This paper clarifies how such a balance may be achieved, and provides recommendations on how the issue can be addressed in practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing and Public Health, Faculty of Biomedical and Health Sciences and Nursing, RMIT University, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Johnstone
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crock
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D001315:Australia; D017848:Blood-Borne Pathogens; D018563:Disease Notification / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D017757:Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008008:Licensure, Nursing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*