Practice of Barrier Precautions in a Government Sector Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background: To determine the practice of barrier
precautions (BPs) among health care
workers(HCWs), quantification of exposure during
patient contact and exploring the reasons of noncompliance.
Methods: The study was conducted in a
government teaching hospital setting. A structured
questionnaire was distributed among all medical
and paramedical staff in all wards of a hospital. The
department of Radiology, Family Medicine and
Pathology were excluded.
Results: The participation of HCWs in a survey
was 84.5% with 169 survey forms returned out of 200
distributed. Majority(98.5%) reported at least one
exposure to body fluids. Direct skin contact (62.13%)
and skin breaking through sharp objects (24.85%)
were the commonest. Blood (57.98%) was the
commonest body fluid exposed.
Conclusion: Despite having the knowledge and
awareness of BPs, there is a limited use of these.