Healthcare Personnel Safety Component

Occupational hazards faced by healthcare personnel (HCP) in the United States have received increasing attention. Although recommendations, guidelines, and regulations to minimize HCP exposure to such hazards have been developed, additional information is needed to improve HCP safety.

CDC developed a surveillance system, NaSH or the National Surveillance System for Health Care Workers that focused on surveillance of exposures and infections among HCP. Operational from 1995 through 2007, NaSH has been replaced by the Healthcare Personnel Safety (HPS) Component of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). The component consists of four modules: Blood/Body Fluids Exposure with Exposure Management, Blood/Body Fluids Exposure only, Influenza Exposure Management, and Influenza Vaccination with (or without) Exposure Management. Additional modules are anticipated in the future.

Benefits of Participation in the Healthcare Personnel Safety Component

• Data collected in this surveillance system will assist healthcare facilities, HCP organizations, and public health agencies
  • To monitor and report trends in blood/body fluid exposures,
  • To assess the impact of preventive measures,
  • To characterize antiviral medication use for exposures to influenza,
  • To monitor influenza vaccination rates among HCP,
  • To generate exposure reports for individual medical records and OSHA-300 or equivalent reports.
• This surveillance component will allow CDC
  • To monitor national trends,
  • To identify newly emerging hazards for HCP,
  • To assess the risk of occupational infection,
  • To evaluate measures, including engineering controls, work practices, protective equipment, and postexposure prophylaxis designed to prevent occupationally-acquired infections.

Hospitals and other healthcare facilities participating in this system will benefit by receiving technical support and standardized methodologies, including a Web-based application, for conducting surveillance activities on occupational health. The NHSN reporting application will enable participating facilities to analyze their own data and compare these data with a national database.

The Blood/Body Fluids Exposure and the Influenza Modules may be used separately or simultaneously.  Instructions and standardized surveillance methods and definitions for each module are provided in the NHSN Manual: HPS Component Protocol.  Regardless of the combination of modules a facility chooses to participate in, a total of 6 months of data must be reported annually to NHSN for continued participation.  The organizational structure of NHSN is outlined below:

• Blood/Body Fluid Exposures and Exposure Management
• Influenza Vaccination and Exposure Management

Data collection forms and instructions

• General Forms
• BBF Exposures Forms
• Influenza Vaccination Forms
• Influenza Exposure Management Forms