Patient privacy vs. PT safety

The patients in ICU are, for the most part, very sick, and most of them have quite extensive past medical histories, so it is always important to carefully read their files and identify any necessary precautions for treatment. For every patient, no matter what their PMH, you have to wear a plastic gown and gloves for protection, and if a patient has particularly infectious/dangerous condition such as MRSA or VRE then they are put in a separate room and extra precautions are taken. These patients’ rooms are always well marked and it is made very clear what you need to do in order to protect yourself.
In this last week I treated a patient with one of the physiotherapists, not my supervisor, and during our treatment-when we were disconnecting the ventilator-some droplets (condensation) from inside the ventilator tubing were sprayed into the air near us. We continued the treatment and as always I wiped down my stethoscope with an alcohol wipe and disposed of my gown and gloves. I had not read the patients notes, as I had been going to treat another patient but they were unavailable, so I had quickly stepped in to help the other PT do their treatment. The next day I went to treat the patient again, with the same PT, who told me to go and read their notes before assessing them (which I would always do anyway), and to be very careful with precautions because the patient had an extensive PMH. When I went to read his chart I found out that his PMH included: HIV, TB, Hep B and Hep C, which was distressing considering what had happened the previous day, and especially since he was not in one of the separate rooms.
Even though there was very little chance that we could have been infected from the ventilator spray I still feel that I should have been told prior to treating him, and been aware that extra precautions needed to be taken-not only for our safety but for the safety of our other patients. Whilst I respect the patient’s right to privacy (since I was not his PT) I think that it is important that any person who would be coming into contact with him, i.e. doctors, nurses, PT’s and HSA’s be aware of his PMH. It is a matter of safety, especially considering that in the ICU the patients get a lot of tests done, and PT treatment often involves disconnecting people from ventilators, suctioning sputum and facilitating coughs. If a person has a condition such as TB or HIV you would be extra careful to not let them cough on you, get any kind of bodily fluid on you and always wash your hands afterwards, instead of just using alcohol gel.
From now on I am definitely going to treat every patient with the maximum amount of precaution, just in case, because even if you have read someone’s notes they may not have the results of investigations back yet, or the patient may be unaware they have a condition. It will be safer for me, and probably the best practice, as I will also be protecting my other, compromised, patients from acquiring an infection from some-else. I am also going to read all patients’ medical files very carefully, and if there is anything in there that I am unsure about then I’m going to check with my supervisor, if (1) Rx is suitable for that patient and (2) what I can do to ensure I am treating in the safest possible manner.