Current Students

Memo 45: Blood Borne Pathogens (BBP) Exposure

Health insurance

We STRONGLY ADVISE that all nursing students have personal health insurance or join a health care plan to cover the expenses of their health care, treatments in case of an injury, and/or care for a catastrophic illness or serious chronic condition within or outside the clinical setting.

Health fee

All nursing students are charged an annual baseline health fee. In addition to immunization tracking (see AS Memorandum 22), the student health fee also covers the after-insurance costs of initial care, baseline and follow-up lab testing, and prophylactic medications given as an appropriate response for a reported episode of blood- or secretion-borne pathogens exposure (see below).

Blood Borne Pathogens Training

To minimize the risk posed to students and/or patients by persons infected with BBP as identified by the CDC and OSHA, all students without an RN license are required to complete BBP training as part of their program orientation.

Blood Borne Pathogens (BBP) Exposure

The UW School of Nursing follows the UW Environmental Health & Safety Bloodborne Pathogens guidance:

  1. Perform first aid
    Students exposed to blood- or secretion-borne pathogens (BBP) should take immediate first aid, including washing thoroughly for 15 minutes with warm water and sudsing soap. Other exposures to the eyes, skin, inhalation or ingestion are addressed in the UW EH&S policy linked above.
  1. Get medical help
    If you are not at a UW site, go to the employee health clinic associated with the clinical or practicum site or to the nearest hospital emergency department. The healthcare provider will need:

    • Information about the source of exposure (patient, sample, specimen, or other material)
    • Details about the injury or exposure
    • Your personal health insurance information (applies to students only)
  1. Report the incident
    All education-related injuries, illnesses, exposures, fires, property damage, and near-miss events, including, but not limited to, blood-borne pathogen exposure, must be reported via the UW Online Accident Reporting System (OARS) within 24 hours of the incident; however, the following incidents require immediate notification to Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S):

    • In-patient hospitalization, amputation, loss of an eye, or fatality
    • Recombinant/synthetic DNA/RNA exposure or spill
    • Radioactive material spill, exposure, accidental exposure from a radiation-producing device or laser

    During EH&S business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday), call 206.543.7262. Outside of EH&S business hours, call the UW Police Department at 206.685.8973 to reach EH&S on-call staff.

    If you have issues submitting your OARS report, please contact EH&S at injury@uw.edu.

    For any incident that occurs at a clinical training site, students must additionally adhere to any reporting policies set forth by their clinical site or agency.

  1. Submit any related personal insurance charges to the Health Sciences Immunization Program (HSIP)
    Please refer to the “For students in the Health Sciences Immunization Program (HSIP)” section for instructions on seeking reimbursement for any charges related to a BBP exposure while a student at UW.

Updated September 2024 – Office of Student and Academic Affairs