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Nursing Ethics
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Physicians' and Nurses' Views On Infected Health Care Workers

Ilya Kagan

Rabin Medical Center, Clalit Health Care Services, Petah-Tikva and Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel, kaganily{at}post.tau.ac.il

Karin Lee Ovadia

Assaf-Harofeh Medical Center, Tzrifin, Israel

Tami Kaneti

Assaf-Harofeh Medical Center, Tzrifin, Israel

This study investigated 204 doctors' and nurses' perceived knowledge of bloodborne pathogens and their attitudes towards bloodborne pathogen-infected health care workers. A structured questionnaire examined: (1) their perceived knowledge of bloodborne pathogens; (2) their attitudes towards bloodborne pathogen-infected personnel; and (3) their opinions on limitation of employment of bloodborne pathogen-infected personnel and restrictions on performing clinical procedures. The levels of HIV-related knowledge were significantly higher than for hepatitis C and B viruses. Although the participants demonstrated more positive attitudes towards hepatitis C- and B-infected health care workers, 64% recommended restricting infected personnel from performing invasive procedures. Attitudes were negatively correlated with opinions on restricting infected personnel from health care work or limiting their involvement in clinical activities. This study highlights the need to formulate a policy to cope with the professional and moral dilemmas related to infected health care workers employed in hospitals, especially for those involved in invasive procedures.

Key Words: attitudes • bloodborne pathogens • infected health care workers • knowledge • restrictions

Nursing Ethics, Vol. 15, No. 5, 573-585 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0969733007088362
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