Healthcare Safety & Bloodborne Pathogens™

What you will learn

This program has four parts. By the end of each part, you should be able to:

Part 1: Foundations

• Define bloodborne pathogens and explain why they matter in healthcare workplaces.
• Identify major infectious microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites.
• Describe HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C at a foundational level relevant to workplace safety.
• Explain the chain of infection and how exposures can occur in everyday healthcare tasks.
• Apply standard precautions to routine work in hospitals, clinics, home health, and long-term care settings.
• Recognize role-based exposure risks and take personal responsibility for safe work practices.

Part 2: Exposure Prevention, PPE & Safe Work Practices

• Identify common exposure risks and routes of transmission in frontline healthcare work.
• Select appropriate PPE for different tasks, environments, and exposure levels.
• Perform proper hand hygiene and follow CDC-aligned handwashing practices.
• Demonstrate correct donning and doffing steps for gloves, gowns, masks, respirators, and eye protection.
• Apply safe practices for sharps handling, contaminated waste disposal, cleaning, and disinfection.
• Use practical decision-making to prevent cross-contamination in real-world healthcare scenarios.

Part 3: Exposure Response, Cleaning, Disinfection & Workplace Safety

• Respond immediately and correctly to a bloodborne pathogen exposure using workplace procedures.
• Explain the purpose of an exposure control plan and follow employee reporting responsibilities.
• Document an exposure incident accurately and support post-exposure follow-up while protecting confidentiality.
• Select appropriate EPA-approved disinfectants and apply safe cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing steps.
• Handle contaminated linens, regulated waste, labels, and warning signs safely in healthcare settings.
• Use workplace safety practices and decision-making skills to help prevent future exposures.

Part 4: Building a Culture of Safety, Emergency Response & Final Competency Review

• Promote a culture of safety and accountability in healthcare settings through everyday actions, reporting, and teamwork.
• Identify workplace hazards and participate in basic risk assessment, safety rounds, and unsafe-condition reporting.
• Respond appropriately to needle sticks, splashes, contamination incidents, and other blood or body fluid exposure emergencies.
• Apply Standard Precautions, Transmission-Based Precautions, PPE use, cleaning, disinfection, waste handling, and exposure reporting procedures in real-world situations.
• Complete a workplace safety improvement project, personal exposure prevention plan, reflection, and final competency assessment.
• Use OSHA, CDC, and EPA resources to support ongoing learning and career-long safety practices.

Program details

• Self-paced online program for healthcare professionals
• Program length: 10 hours, in four parts
• Includes graded assessments you must pass to complete the program
• Earn a downloadable Certificate of Completion upon successful program completion—ideal for documenting professional development and submitting to your employer for potential reimbursement
• Each certificate has a verification ID that employers can check at nahcp.com/verify

Program length describes the length of the program, not a number of continuing-education credits. Check with your employer or licensing board before submitting a program for credit or reimbursement.