TY - JOUR
T1 - The influence of employee, job/task, and organizational factors on adherence to universal precautions among nurses
AU - Dejoy, David M.
AU - Murphy, Lawrence R.
AU - Gershon, Robyn M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by CDC/NIOSH (Co-operative Agreement #U60 CCUR902886) to ERC, Inc. (R.M. Gershon, Principal Investigator). The authors wish to express their thanks to Sylvia Cohn, Johns Hopkins University, for her work in data management and statistical analyses of the data. The opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
PY - 1995/7
Y1 - 1995/7
N2 - Universal precautions (UP) refer to recommended work practices designed to help prevent occupational exposure to HIV/AIDS and other blood-borne pathogens in health care settings. However, despite widespread dissemination of UP guidelines and subsequent government regulatory action, worker adherence remains less than satisfactory. The present study used hierarchical, multiple regression analysis to examine the relative influence of four sets of factors on worker adherence to UP: demographics, personal characteristics, job/task factors, and organization-level factors. Data were analyzed on a sample of 451 nurses employed at a large U.S. medical center. Consistent with the general hypothesis of the study, job/task and organization-level factors were the best predictors of adherence. Using the results from the study, a heuristic model of the adherence process is proposed that highlights the contributions of job hindrances and organizational safety climate to UP-related behavior. A three-pronged intervention strategy is also presented that emphasizes (1) the availability and accessibility of personal protective devices, (2) the reduction of UP-related job hindrances and barriers, and (3) improvements in safety performance feedback and related communications. Given the preliminary nature of this study, several recommendations for future research are also offered.
AB - Universal precautions (UP) refer to recommended work practices designed to help prevent occupational exposure to HIV/AIDS and other blood-borne pathogens in health care settings. However, despite widespread dissemination of UP guidelines and subsequent government regulatory action, worker adherence remains less than satisfactory. The present study used hierarchical, multiple regression analysis to examine the relative influence of four sets of factors on worker adherence to UP: demographics, personal characteristics, job/task factors, and organization-level factors. Data were analyzed on a sample of 451 nurses employed at a large U.S. medical center. Consistent with the general hypothesis of the study, job/task and organization-level factors were the best predictors of adherence. Using the results from the study, a heuristic model of the adherence process is proposed that highlights the contributions of job hindrances and organizational safety climate to UP-related behavior. A three-pronged intervention strategy is also presented that emphasizes (1) the availability and accessibility of personal protective devices, (2) the reduction of UP-related job hindrances and barriers, and (3) improvements in safety performance feedback and related communications. Given the preliminary nature of this study, several recommendations for future research are also offered.
KW - HIV/AIDS
KW - Job characteristics
KW - Organizational factors
KW - Safety climate
KW - Universal precautions
KW - Worker protection
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U2 - 10.1016/0169-8141(94)00075-E
DO - 10.1016/0169-8141(94)00075-E
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0028997495
SN - 0169-8141
VL - 16
SP - 43
EP - 55
JO - International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics
JF - International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics
IS - 1
ER -