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Brief Report: The Detection of Blood on Gloved Hands of Central Sterile Supply Personnel and Cleaned Instruments Used for Procedures on Patient Units

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Patricia B. Kennedy*
Affiliation:
Division of Epidemiology and Virology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia
Jack M. Gwaltney Jr.
Affiliation:
Division of Epidemiology and Virology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia
*
Division of Epidemiology and Virology, Box 473, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville. VA 22908

Extract

Patient blood is recognized as a dangerous substance because it may contain infectious agents. While the practice of gloving provides some protection to hospital personnel exposed to instruments contaminated with patient blood, frequent breaks in techniques occur in which personnel inadvertently touch surfaces and objects in the environment with the potentially contaminated gloves. Also, “cleaned” instruments are placed on environmental surfaces to which other personnel are exposed. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of blood contamination of “cleaned” instruments used for patient procedures in the hospital, and on the gloved hands of central sterile supply (CSS) personnel handling those instruments.

Type
Original Aricles
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1988

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References

1. Ostrow, JD, Mulvaney, CA, Hansell, JR, et al: Sensitivity and reproducibility of chemical test for fecal occult blood with an emphasis on false-positive tractions. Am J Digest Dis 1973; 18:930940.CrossRefGoogle Scholar