Compliance with standard precautions among operating room nurses in South Korea

Standard precautions are widely adopted to prevent the transmission of bloodborne pathogens among health care workers. There is no system to monitor compliance with standard precautions among health care workers, and few studies have been done to identify the level of compliance with standard precautions among health care workers in South Korea.

This study aimed to determine the level of compliance with and education on standard precautions among operating room nurses in South Korea.

A cross-sectional survey was done with 158 operating room scrub nurses from 7 general hospitals that each had 500 beds or more in Busan, South Korea, from April to May 2006. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires on compliance with double gloving, using protective eyewear, and no recapping of needles.

Twelve percent (19/158) of the participants always used double gloving, 2% (3/158) always used protective eyewear, and 10% (15/158) always practiced not recapping used needles. All hospitals investigated in the study had regular educational programs lasting less than 1 hour on the control of hospital infection for new employees. Only 1 hospital has provided on the job training on the infection control for current operating room nurses.

Operating room nurses in this study rarely complied with standard precautions, especially with using protective eyewear. Training on a more regular basis should be established to increase the compliance with standard precautions among operating room nurses in South Korea.