•Health care workers reported that respirator use did not affect patient care.•Personal protective equipment interference with patient care would affect compliance with expected use.•PAPR users reported more interference with patient care than other respirator users.•Heatlh care workers may trade inconvenience for safety. In a study of 1,152 health care workers surveyed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, most disagreed that respiratory protective equipment use interferes with patient care but reported that it would affect respirator use compliance if it did. A patient's fear reaction variably influenced self-reported health care worker compliance with respirator use. Strategies to improve protective equipment design may remove potential barriers to respirator use and allow better health care worker-patient relationships.