The medical assistant employed at the doctor’s office was scratched on the hand last week by her kitten, and the scratch subsequently became infected. The office was very busy this week with patients, and the medical assistant assisted with ten Category I minor surgical procedures. Three days later, six of the ten surgical patients returned to the office with infected surgical sites. While reading this chapter, consider the following questions:

1			How might the patients have been infected?
2			What steps should the medical assistant have taken to prevent these infections?
3			How does the Blood-Borne Pathogens Standard apply to the medical assistant?
4			If the medical assistant did not observe the regulation, what penalties, if any, could be imposed by OSHA?