Promoting a safer practice environment as related to occupational tuberculosis: A nursing care quality issue in Taiwan

As a result of a recent cluster of tuberculosis (TB) transmission among healthcare providers in a regional teaching hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, there has been growing concern about occupational health hazards, especially of communicable diseases, faced by our nurses in practice. Tuberculosis is an invisible killer of nurses in the process of nursing care delivery. This descriptive article briefly reviews the epidemiology of TB in Taiwan, discusses the recent cluster of TB transmission in Taipei, and reviews relevant studies of occupational hazards. This article also focuses nurses' attention on relevant legislation and hospital policies related to occupational hazards in Taiwan. Suggestions and practice implications are discussed.