Abstract
Objective: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends that institutions establish a medical surveillance program for workers who handle hazardous drugs. Our aim was to investigate current practices with occupational medicine practice (OMP) national leaders. Methods: A series of qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with 11 OMP national leaders from medical centers in 10 states. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded using a directed content analysis. Codes were organized into themes. Results: All respondents were board-certified physicians in medical center OMP. Interviews up to 45 minutes found three themes: policy interpretation, benefits and barriers to surveillance, and potential respondent-generated solutions. Three of 10 medical centers provided medical surveillance. Conclusions: Medical surveillance for hazardous drugs is infrequent, and consensus is lacking regarding standard practices. Further work is needed to minimize risk to health care workers.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 521-527 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of occupational and environmental medicine |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2018 |
Keywords
- hazardous drugs
- institutional practices
- medical surveillance
- occupational health surveillance
- qualitative
- telephone survey
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health