Tuberculosis Protection Course Overview
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant occupational health concern for healthcare workers who face substantially higher infection risk compared to the general population. Healthcare personnel working in hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, correctional healthcare, homeless shelters, and laboratories encounter TB patients during diagnosis, treatment, and isolation procedures. Despite significant declines in TB incidence in the United States, healthcare workers continue to experience occupational transmission, particularly in settings with delayed TB diagnosis, inadequate infection control measures, or exposure to multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). The risk is especially high in emergency departments where TB diagnosis may not be immediately apparent and in pulmonary procedure areas where aerosol-generating procedures increase transmission potential.
This course educates healthcare personnel about the risks, transmission, testing, treatment, and prevention of tuberculosis to increase safety in hospitals and other medical facilities. Employees learn CDC-recommended infection control practices including administrative controls, environmental controls, and personal protective equipment requirements, along with proper procedures for TB screening, diagnosis, isolation, and treatment monitoring.


