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Constella Group, Durham, NC, USA.
© 2011, Korean Society of Epidemiology
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
General questionnaire item and selected | What we learned | Specific questionnaire items and response |
---|---|---|
questions from the key informant interviews | ||
and direct observation | options based on this information* | |
Routes of occupational blood exposure relevant | Needlesticks, blood on non-intact skin, and blood | During the last 12 months, how many times... |
to home care/hospice nurses | in eyes, nose, or mouth. Other routes of expo- | ... did you get patients’ blood or body fluid |
What are the ways in which home care nurses | sure (which are relevant for some health care | containing visible blood in your eyes, nose, |
become exposed to patient’s blood? | workers) are not relevant for this population. | or mouth? (Q35) |
... were you stuck by a needle or lancet after it | ||
had been used on a patient? (Q36) | ||
... did you get patient’s blood or body fluid | ||
containing visible blood on your non-intact | ||
skin? (Q44) | ||
Denominator for incidence rates | Nurses make 20-35 visits per week, 3-6 visits per | Number of visits was selected as the denominator. |
How many hours did you work last week? | day. One patient is seen at each visit. Nurses | Items to gather information for calculating the |
How many patients do you generally visit per | could not recall the number of patients they | average number of visits in the past year were: |
week, per day? | visited last week. | Currently, how many home visits do you make |
How many home visits do you make each | To calculate the number of patients visited last | in a typical week? (Q9) |
day? | week, nurses would have to review their clinical | Last summer, how many home visits did you |
How many patients do you see during a home | notes. They would not be willing to do this for | make in a typical week? (Q10) |
visit? | the survey. | Last winter, how many home visits did you |
Does the number of patients you visit per | Nurses could not remember the amount of time | make in a typical week? (Q11) |
week fluctuate? | they spent with each patient last week. | |
If so, what causes this fluctuation? | There is seasonal variation in number of visits | |
How would you calculate the number of | made. | |
patients you visited last week? | Nurses suggested asking about a typical week | |
Could you tell me the amount of time you | instead of the previous week. | |
spent (in minutes) with each patient last | ||
week? | ||
Types of skilled nursing procedures performed | Skilled medical procedures routinely performed | Approximately how many times per week do you |
What types of skilled nursing procedures do | include wound care, IV therapy injections, | perform the following procedures in the home? |
you routinely perform during home visits? | phlebotomy, ostomy care, and catheter care. | (Q13) |
Could you tell me the speciffc number and | Nurses could report the specific number and | Procedures listed were those identified during |
type of procedures you performed yester- | types of procedures they performed yesterday | the key informant interviews and direct |
day? How about last week? | and last week. | observations. |
Would this information be difficult to obtain? | It would be easier for nurses to report on the | |
specific number and types of procedures they | ||
performed yesterday compared to last week. | ||
Availability and use of personal protective equip- | Personal protective equipment used by home | How often does your agency provide you with the |
ment and safety-engineered medical devices | care/hospice nurses includes gloves, different | following equipment? (Q15) |
Can you list the different types of personal | ' Π WWW >types of masks, and fluid impermeable gowns. | For the following scenarios involving use of PPE, |
protective equipment that home care | please indicate why each event occurred: | |
nurses use during a visit? | (Q26-Q30) | |
Types of PPE listed in the questionnaire were | ||
those identified during the key informant | ||
interviews and observations. | ||
Can you list the different safety-engineered | Safety devices used are shielded winged steel | How often does your agency provide you with the |
medical devices that you use? | needle, retracting lancet, safety syringe, hinged | following safety-devices? (Q16) |
cap or shielded straight needle, and hinged cap | Questions based on five scenarios related to use | |
blood tube holder. | of safety devices. (Q17-Q22) | |
Devices listed in the questionnaire were those | ||
identified during the key informant interviews | ||
and direct observations. |
Issue | Questions |
---|---|
Barriers | Can you think of any reasons why a home care nurse would not participate in this study? |
How can we address these reasons? | |
Do you think a nurse would feel comfortable answering these questions honestly? | |
Incentives | What types of incentives do you think would encourage a nurse to participate in the study? |
Motivations | What are some of the reasons a study like this might be important to nurses? |
Why might a home care nurse be motivated to participate in this study? |
*The questionnaire item number is given in parentheses.