Exposure to work-related sharp injuries among nurses in Nigeria

Abstract

Workplace conditions increase risks to health care workers especially nurses who stay longest with the patient in the hospital. The purpose of this study was to determine the exposure to work-related sharp injuries among nurses and their frequency of contact with needles and other sharp devices at work in a selected Teaching hospital in Nigeria. Two hundred and seventy five (275) registered nurses participated in the study. Questionnaires served as the study tool and were administered following due ethical approval. Statistical analyses include descriptive and chi-square tests with the assistance of SPSS, version 18. Findings showed several factors that constitute occurrence of sharp injury, according to 20% of the respondents, sharp injury occurred while they were administering injectable medicines and 35.3% of them identified needle recapping. To 21.2% and 11% of the participants, breakage of medication ampoule and packing used syringes and needles for disposal were identified respectively. Also, 87.6% of the respondents experienced sharp injury at work while 12.4% did not. The causes of sharp injury result from failure to follow recommended procedures through personal behavioural risks such as safe handling and disposal of needle and syringes. Nurses as the largest network of the health care enterprise need to be competent and up to date in their caring role to minimize sharp injuries at work and its sequelae.