Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Health professionals are constantly exposed to occupational accidents. In this context, standard precautionary measures (PP) were established, designing biosafety standards at all stages of care, but several factors influence low adherence. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the adherence of nursing professionals working in emergency services to standard precautionary measures. METHOD: This is an exploratory study with quantitative approach developed in northern Ceará from June to July 2018. Data were collected from the instruments: clinical-epidemiological data and the scale of adherence to PPS. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 22.0 software. RESULTS: Of the 86 interviewees, 20.93% were linked to SAMU and 79.07% to hospital emergency trauma-orthopedics, distributed among 79.07% nursing technicians and 20.93% nurses, being 45.34% gender male and 54.65% female. Data analysis identified a statistically significant difference when comparing intermediate and high adherence levels in the items: follow standard precautions with all patients regardless of diagnosis (p=0.05); wear a protective apron when dealing with secretions or blood (p=0.000); wear protective glasses when dealing with blood or secretions (p=0.000); wear a disposable mask (p=0.001) and immediately wipe off any blood or other secretions (p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Non-compliance with PP is due to an association of interrelated factors that refers to the units personal, organizational and structural profile. Therefore, the development of actions to promote guidance to professionals is indispensable.