The Employee Health Service and Infection Control in US hospitals, 1976-1977. II. Managing employee illness
R. W. Haley and T. G. Emori
To assess the methods being used in US hospitals to prevent the spread of
contagious illnesses from hospital employees to patients, we analyzed
information obtained in the SENIC Project (Study on the Efficacy of
Nosocomial Infection Control) from interviews with hospital officials and
staff nurses. In general, staff nurses and their first-line supervisors
appeared to be unfamiliar with some published recommendations outlining
when an illness or exposure should exclude them temporarily from patient
contact. The infection control nurse had authority to exclude employees in
fewer than half of the hospitals. Although employees would be financially
penalized in less than 10% of hospitals for missing work on account of a
contagious illness, staff nurses in larger hospitals were more reluctant to
consult the employee health service if they believed they would lose pay.
