Evaluation of occupational health and safety training for nursing students

Abstract

Introduction. Nurses, who constitute the largest part of the healthcare team, start to encounter many occupational exposures from the beginning of their education and this exposure continues throughout their professional lives.
 Aim. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of occupational health and safety education on the knowledge levels of second year nursing students.
 Materials and Methods. The sample of the quasi-experimental research with a single-group pre-test post-test design consisted of 261 second-year nursing students. The data of the research were collected with the "Descriptive Characteristics Questionnaire" and the "Occupational Health and Safety Training Questionnaire" between March-June 2018.
 Results. The average age of the students participating in the research is 20.87±1.31. When the pre-test and post-test occupational health and safety knowledge levels of nursing students were compared, it was found that the rates of knowing the occupational health and safety law correctly, knowing the responsibilities of the employees, knowing the occupational hazards for the health workers, and knowing what to do to prevent the sharps injuries were statistically significant. level was found to increase (p <0.05).
 Conclusion. In the study, in which the effect of occupational health and safety education given to second-year nursing students on occupational health and safety knowledge levels was evaluated, it was determined that the education provided an increase in the students' knowledge of occupational health and safety law, occupational hazards and protection from occupational hazards for healthcare workers, notification of occupational accidents and waste management.