Behavior–diagnostic analysis of compliance with universal precautions among nurses.

TLDR

Prior studies suggest that a positive safety climate promotes compliance with safe work practices. This study applied the PRECEDE model to investigate individual, job‑task, and environmental‑organizational factors influencing nurses’ compliance with universal precautions. The PRECEDE framework (Partridge 1980) guided the structured assessment of these factors. Structural equation modeling showed the model explained 41 % of variance in general compliance but only 18 % for PPE, with all diagnostic factor categories influencing general compliance and reinforcing factors’ indirect effects providing the greatest improvement in fit.

Abstract

This study used the PRECEDE model (L.W. Green, M.W. Kreuter, S.G. Deeds, & K.B. Partridge, 1980) to examine individual, job-task, and environmental-organizational factors related to compliance with universal precautions (UP) among nurses. Structural equation modeling showed that the hypothesized model did a better job predicting general compliance (R2 = .41) than compliance with personal protective equipment (PPE; R2 = .18). All 3 categories of diagnostic factors (predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing) influenced general compliance, but predisposing factors were relatively unimportant for compliance with PPE. With a set of nested models, the greatest improvement in model fit occurred when the indirect effects of reinforcing factors were added. A positive safety climate may increase the likelihood that the work environment will contain features that enable workers to comply with safe work practices.