Korean J Med > Volume 74(5); 2008 > Article
The Korean Journal of Medicine 2008;74(5):500-505.
Exposure to blood and body fluids for medical students during clerkship
Chang-Seop Lee, Jeong-Hwan Hwang, Su-Yeon Seon, Min-Hee Jung, Jin-Hee Park, Heung-Bum Lee
가톨릭대학교 의과대학 순환기 내과
원저 : 임상 실습 중인 의과대학생들의 혈액 및 체액에 노출 정도
이창섭, 황정환, 선수연, 정민희, 박진희, 이흥범
Abstract
Background/Aims : Medical students face the threat of acquiring blood-borne infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C during their clinical activities in clerkship. This study determined the frequency of exposure and the risks of exposure to blood and body fluids among medical students. Methods : An anonymous questionnaire was administrated to the 4th year medical students in a tertiary academy university hospital. Results : The surveys were completed by 124 students (100% of the students). Seventy-one percent (88 cases) reported more than one time of exposure to blood or body fluids during the consecutive 2 years of clinical rotation. Single needle stick injury occurred for 19.3% of the students, both exposure to needle stick and splash occurred for 40.9% and single splash occurred for 39.8% of the 88 cases. Venipucture was the highest exposure event (50%), and the other causes were scrub (35.2%), bedside procedures (35.2%), arterial puncture (22.7%), lancet (13.6%), suture (5.7%) and others (8%). The emergency department had the highest exposures rate (80.7%), and this was followed by general surgery (33%), neurosurgery (8%), orthopedic surgery (8%), plastic surgery (6.8%), obstetrics-gynecology (5.7%) and others (10.1%). The major exposure sites in the hospital were the emergency room (81.8%), operation room (38.6%), intensive care unit (8%), general ward (6.8%) and others (2.3%). Only nineteen cases (21.6%) of hospital exposure were reported to the appropriate medical personnel. Conclusions : This study shows medical students have the potential risk of health care related infection when they are exposed to many patients in the emergency department without a supervisor being present. To avoid the occurrence of these problems, preventive education, and particularly the practice of universal precaution, should be taken by the medical students before beginning their clinical activity.
Key Words: Medical students; Needlestick Injuries; Blood


TOOLS
METRICS Graph View
  • 1,248 View
  • 13 Download

Editorial Office
101-2501, Lotte Castle President, 109 Mapo-daero, Mapo-gu, Seoul 04146, Korea
Tel: +82-2-2271-6791    Fax: +82-2-790-0993    E-mail: kaim@kams.or.kr                

Copyright © 2024 by The Korean Association of Internal Medicine.

Developed in M2PI

Close layer
prev next