Employee health and the infection control practitioner--why bother?

Abstract

The hospital is a unique workplace in terms of the infectious hazards it presents to its employees. Traditionally, infection control programs have focused on various aspects of infection control in patients. However, infections constitute a risk for health care workers, a fact which emphasizes the importance of infection control input into the employee health program. Many health care facilities and most regulatory agencies recognize the importance of infection control in health care workers. However, infection control programs have had varying degrees of influence in occupational health matters. As the discipline of infection control has grown and become more sophisticated, the subdiscipline of employee health has also begun to grow and emerge with a data base of its own. Many infection control conferences, symposia, and meetings now have a session or two related to employee health. Perhaps even more important is the CDC Guideline for Infection Control in Hospital Personnel, written by a CDC panel as part of its guidelines series. It will be responsible for drawing attention to employee health issues as they relate to infection control and should help solidify the discipline. The guideline will also provide opinions and answers to many questions regarding infection control and employee health.