The provision and use of personal protective equipment
(PPE) is a primary means of protecting health
care workers from occupational blood exposure and
possible infection with human immunodeficiency
virus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus.1,2 Most
of the research on access to and use of PPE among
health care workers has focused on hospital workers.3
Although there are currently more than 130,000 nurses
working in home care in the United States,4 very little is
known about use of PPE in this population. The objectives
of this study were to (1) determine the frequency
of provision of PPE to home care and hospice nurses in