Abstract
BackgroundInjuries with sharps are common occupational hazards for healthcare workers. Such injuries predispose the staff to dangerous infections such as hepatitis B, C and HIV.ObjectivesThe present study was conducted to investigate the behaviors of healthcare workers in Kashan healthcare centers after needle sticks and injuries with sharps in 2012.Materials and MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on 298 healthcare workers of medical centers governed by Kashan University of Medical Sciences. A questionnaire was used in this study. The first part included questions about demographic characteristics. The second part of the questionnaire consisted of 16 items related to the sharp instrument injuries. For data analysis, descriptive and analytical statistics (chi-square, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient) SPSS version 16.0 software was used.ResultsFrom a total of 298 healthcare workers, 114 (38.3%) had a history of injury from needles and sharp instruments in the last six months. Most needle stick and sharp instrument injuries had occurred among the operating room nurses and midwifes; 32.5% of injuries from sharp instruments occurred in the morning shift. Needles were responsible for 46.5% of injuries. The most common actions taken after needle stick injuries were compression (27.2%) and washing the area with soap and water (15.8%). Only 44.6% of the injured personnel pursued follow-up measures after a needle stick or sharp instrument injury.ConclusionsMore than a half of the healthcare workers with needle stick or sharp instrument injury had refused follow-up for various reasons. The authorities should implement education programs along with protocols to be implemented after needle stick injuries or sharps.
Highlights
Injuries with sharps are common occupational hazards for healthcare workers
The incidence of needle stick ranged from 47.05% to more than 76% in different studies previously conducted in Iran [33, 34]
The rate of sharp injuries in this study may be influenced by the response rate; the lower rate of injuries may be attributed to the low rate of reporting [16, 17] and this may be an alarm for the need to establish a reliable reporting system for these injuries
Summary
Injuries with sharps are common occupational hazards for healthcare workers. Such injuries predispose the staff to dangerous infections such as hepatitis B, C and HIV. Injuries due to contact with contaminated needles may have serious physical and psychological consequences [4,5,6] These injuries may be dangerous and predispose healthcare workers to more than 20 different types of pathogens [7] including HIV and hepatitis B and C viruses [8,9,10]. It is difficult to provide accurate statistics on the incidence of needle stick or sharps injuries because even in developed countries all cases are not reported [16, 17] Several factors such as time constraint, underestimating the risk, and lack of knowledge may prevent injuries from being reported [18]. Its prevalence has been reported to be about 66% in Egypt, 45% in Paki-
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