Knowledge, Awareness and Compliance with Universal Precautions among Health Care Workers at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Jamaica

Background: Universal precautions are not well understood or implemented by health carepractitioners, though crucial in the prevention and transmission of blood-borne pathogenslike HIVObjective: To assess knowledge, awareness and compliance of universal precautions amonghealth care workers at the University Hospital of the West Indies, JamaicaMethod: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in September and October 2007. A 28-item self-administered questionnaire was provided to 200 health care workers includingmedical doctors, medical technologists, nurses and porters to assess their knowledge, awarenessand practice towards universal precautionsResults: Almost two-thirds (64.0%) of the respondents were very knowledgeable of universalprecautions with significantly more females (75.4%) than males (42.9%) (p 0.0001).More nurses (90.0%), medical doctors (88.0%) and medical technologists (70%) were veryknowledgeable of universal precautions (p 0.0001). More respondents (92.9%) who wereemployed in the health sector for 16 years and over reported high levels of awareness ofuniversal precautions than those who were employed for less than five years (p 0.0001).28.6% of males and only 6.2% of females reported that they do not use protective gear.More nurses reported frequent use of protective equipment followed by medical technologistsand medical doctors (p 0.0001).Conclusions: There was adequate knowledge and a fair level of awareness among medicaldoctors, medical technologists, and nurses towards universal precautions