Preventive measures for blood borne diseases by emergency medicine residents

To determine the application of preventive measures by emergency medicine residents for blood born diseases and detection of possible constraints at Imam Hussein Hospital in 2009-2010. In this observational descriptive cross-sectional study, all 40 emergency medicine residents from the first to third year of practice, were observed and evaluated during work at emergency department of Imam Hussein Hospital in 2009-2010. Data were collected by utilizing an observational checklist & a personal characteristics information form. Content validity and inter rater reliability(r=0.89) of the instruments was confirmed. The mean age of the residents was 32.7±4.3 years. Twelve subjects (30%) were female. Fifteen residents (37.5%) were in first educational year, six subjects (14%) were in the second year, and 19 residents (47.5%) were in their third year of practice. Three most respected items were covering the hands by latex gloves before medical procedures (95±20 points), cleaning the bloody skin after phlebotomy or IV line preparation (88±32 points), and developing no blood spreading after phlebotomy, suction, or lines removal (77±43 points). Higher residency educational degree and IV line preparation were the effective factors for better application of preventive measures by emergency medicine residents for blood born diseases, compared to intubation procedure (P<0.05). The most common constraints for application of preventive measures by emergency residents for blood born diseases were high rate of patient's attending the emergency room (85%), high work load (80%), and need for fast performance at work (68%). Generally, according to the obtained results, it may be concluded that the preventive measures for blood borne diseases are not optimally practiced by emergency medicine residents, and therefore, it is necessary to promote their information & practical knowledge especially with explanatory classes & continuous quality improvement.