Needlestick Injuries Research Articles

Occupational health and safety rights of hospital workers in relation to needle stick injuries exposure in Pakistan

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the determinants of needle stick injuries (NSIs) suffering in terms of occupational health and safety (OHS) coverage critically for health-care workers’ rights in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThis is a qualitative study involving the designing of a questionnaire followed by the World Health Organization’s NSI prevention assessment tool and nationally published reports covering health-care workers’ OHS rights protection. A total of 17 public and private hospitals were surveyed with a two-stage sampling method. Descriptive and inferential statistics (one-way analysis of variance with multiple comparison tests) were applied and significant results were discussed (p = 0.05 & p = 0.01). The results were discussed critically in the context of the OHS rights of health-care workers.FindingsAnalysis revealed the following significant relationships: job type and safety behavior; age group of health-care workers and safety management; injection usage per day and safety behavior; past year’s needle sticks injuries cases with safety behavior and occupational exposure; work shift and work experience with safety knowledge, safety awareness and work experience with safety management. It was also found there is no specific OHS law in the country for health-care workers.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited in terms of sampling size and quantification of NSI burden among health-care workers.Practical implicationsImproved OHS management practices among health-care workers can control NSIs that ultimately ensure their workplace OHS rights. Health-care workers need OHS coverage in terms of awareness about potential workplace hazards and job training accordingly. Findings from extensive studies of a similar kind can give useful policy directions for workplace health management in health-care setup at the national level.Originality/valueThis study highlights the importance of OHS coverage for health-care workers in hospitals. It reports different determinants of NSIs suffering causing health-care worker’s rights violations at the workplace in Pakistan.

Advancing Staff Safety: Assessment of Quality Improvement Interventions in Reducing Needlestick Injuries Among Staff at Nyaho Medical Centre.

Needlestick injury, which occurs when the skin is accidentally punctured, is linked to infection transmission of HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. Because of the associated risks, hospitals are keen to do everything necessary to prevent needlestick injuries to their staff. This is a quality improvement project aimed at reducing needlestick injuries among staff at Nyaho Medical Centre (NMC). A facility-based assessment of the incidence of needlestick injury recorded and quality intervention employed was conducted between 2018 and 2021. Quality improvement tools such as the fishbone (cause and effect analysis) and the run chart were used to analyze and evaluate improvements made over time. NMC staff have greatly reduced the incidence of needlestick injuries from 2018 to 2021 (from 11 needlestick injuries in 2018 to 3 recorded needlestick injuries in 2021). Using root cause analysis to investigate the possible cause of needlestick injury and use of the run chart to monitor the implemented improvement strategies (interventions) helped reduce the incidence of needlestick injuries among staff and thereby improved staff safety. The introduction of the incident reporting management systems saw an increase in the culture of incident reporting in general. Other incidents, such as medical errors and patient falls, were being reported using the incident reporting system. The inclusion of infection prevention and control training as part of NMC's onboarding for new employees helped in the knowledge and awareness creation of needlestick injuries and safety measures to prevent injury from needles and sharps. Policy changes and audit with feedback sharing key performance indicators with frontline team members were identified to have had the most effect.

Study on needle stick injury in a tertiary-level government teaching hospital

Background and Objective: A safe injection does not harm the recipient, nor does it expose the provider of injection at risk and, does not result in the generation of hazardous waste. The study was performed with the aim to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) about needle stick injury (NSI) with respect to biomedical waste management rules 2016 among staff of a government tertiary care teaching hospital. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in the clinical care areas of a tertiary care government teaching hospital. The study was conducted from June 2019 to June 2020. Institutional ethics committee approval was attained before taking up the study. A study sample of 407 was calculated by applying the population proportion to size formula to each stratum and was drawn among the resident (academic) doctor, staff nurse, paramedical staff and housekeeping staff of the institute. The results were analysed statistically. Results: Out of 407 study participants, 91 (22.4%) were resident (academic) doctors, 122 (30%) were staff nurses, 23 (5.7%) were paramedical staff and 171 (42%) were housekeeping staff, respectively. Regarding the knowledge aspect, most of the study participants were unaware of the safe injection practices such as not to recap the needle and to use a needle cutter to discard the used needle immediately and NSI. The overall KAP mean score of the study participants was 0.43 out of 1, 2.7 out of 3 and 0.73 out of 1, respectively. Conclusion: The attitude and practice aspect concerning the approach to NSI was found to be better for the housekeeping staff and nursing officers when compared with the resident doctors.

Case Report and Literature Review of Occupational Transmission of Monkeypox Virus to Healthcare Workers, South Korea.

We report a case of occupational monkeypox virus infection from a needlestick injury in a healthcare worker in South Korea and review similar reports in the literature during 2022. Postexposure prophylactic treatment with a third-generation smallpox vaccine and antiviral agent tecovirimat inhibited local virus spread and alleviated lesion pain.

Effectiveness of educational program on knowledge regarding needle stick injuries among nursing students

The aims of this study are to assess the knowledge regarding needle stick injury in nursing students, The objective of study was to assess the level of knowledge regarding needle stick injury among the nursing students, to evaluate the effectiveness of educational program on knowledge regarding needle stick injury among the nursing students, The use of safety practice exposure, to blood and blood containing material and contributing factors. A multiple choice questionnaire was completed by 60 nursing students studying at Shri Ram Murti Smarak College of Nursing, Bareilly. These sample was selected by using the purposive sampling method. The data was collected by using the multiple choice questionnaire and these data was analyzed by SPSS version 27.The result of study was75% of the participants were belongs to 22-23 years age group and 11.7% of the participants were belong to 24-25 years and 6.4% were belong to 26-27 years age group &6.4% belong to more than 28 year, majority of the participants i.e. 53.3% were female and remaining 46.7% were male. 80 % of the participants were unmarried, 10% of the participants were married . 43.4% were having GNM qualification, 51.7% were having B.Sc. Nursing degreeand1.7% were having post basic nursing degree and remaining 3.3% having NPCC degree. majority of the participants are that is.78.3% were not participated in any educational program and remaining 21.7% were participated in educational program. Interpreted the mean post-test knowledge score(16..37 ± 3.37)of the experimental group was greater than the mean pre-test knowledge score (10.87 ± 3.61) of the experimental group with the mean difference of 5.5.

Student Nurses Knowledge of Needle Stick Injuries at a Private Institute, Karachi

Needle Stick Injuries (NSI) are wounds penetrated to the skin by needles which can lead to infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B, C, and Human Immunodeficiency virus. Objectives: To determine the student nurses' knowledge of NSI at a private nursing institute in Karachi. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. A total of 67 participants were recruited through the purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through a valid and reliable questionnaire from September to November 2022. Results: Study results showed that 41.8% of participants were males and 58.2% were females. The majority of the participants, 62.7%, were between 20-30 years of age and had an experience of 5-10 years. 62.7% of participants have taken the vaccine against the Hepatitis B virus. Around half (53.7%) of the participants were exposed to needle stick injuries (NSI) during clinical rotations. Knowledge results showed that 22.4% of nursing students had a good level of knowledge, 17.9% moderate, and 59.7% had a low level of knowledge regarding NSI. The association was found only between clinical experience and student nurses' knowledge. Conclusions: Based on the findings, high prevalence of NSI, a low level of knowledge of NSI among students, and a low immunization rate of the Hepatitis B vaccine. Therefore, the institute and hospitals should conduct educational training programs and workshops to increase the knowledge level of nursing students regarding NSI and an immunization drive against Hepatitis B to protect them from the deadly virus

Knowledge and Practice of Injection Safety among Nurses Working in Tertiary Health Science Institute of Eastern Nepal

Background: Injections are among the nursing procedures which are commonly performed worldwide. Unsafe injections occur routinely in most developing world regions, implying a significant potential for the transmission of blood borne pathogen. Unsafe injections currently account for a significant proportion of all new hepatitis B and C infections. This study was done to explore the factors affecting knowledge and practices and to carry out observation in selected sample. Material and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to conduct the study among 143 nurses working at selected wards of BPKIHS using self-administered questionnaire. The Medical, Surgical, Emergency, Orthopedic, ICU, SICU, Gynecology, Antenatal and Postnatal wards were selected purposively and the nurses were selected using population proportionate stratified random sampling. Observation of the 30 injection procedure was carried out .Collected data was analyzed using various descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 25.48±3.66 years. Poor knowledge was seen among 33.6% and good knowledge was seen among 66.4% of the respondents. Similarly, good practice was observed among 11.2% and excellent practice was observed among 88.6% of the respondents. Significant association was found between knowledge and socio-demographic variables i.e. total work experience (p 0.023), vaccination against hepatitis B (p<0.001) Conclusion: The study concluded that one third of the nurses had good knowledge regarding injection safety and majority of the nurses had excellent practice. The major lacking was seen related to the steps to be taken immediate after needle stick injury, practices of recapping of the syringes and coverage of the Hepatitis B vaccination. We recommend the authority of the study setting to prioritize these components. Further participatory observation studies are required to explore factors related to the knowledge and practices of safe injection practices.

Long-term percutaneous triclosan exposure induces thyroid damage in mice: Interpretation of toxicity mechanism from metabolic and proteomic perspectives

Triclosan (TCS) is an antiseptic incorporated in consumer goods and personal care products that can be absorbed via the skin, raising public health concerns for its continuous detection in human biofluids and tissues. Epidemiology has associated TCS exposure with thyroid function disturbances and decreasing serum thyroid hormone (TH) levels, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we revealed hypothyroidism and histological alternation in the thyroid of mice with chronic percutaneous exposure to TCS, indicating a TCS-caused thyroid impairment. Subsequently, multi-omics approaches were performed to investigate the molecular mechanism of the thyroid in response to long-term dermal TCS exposure. We discovered that TCS interfered with the TH synthesis as indicated by the changes in the levels of the synthetic materials for TH (iodide, Tg, and H2O2) and affected TH release by the downregulation of lysosomal enzymes. The upregulation of glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, fatty acid, amino acid metabolism, and adenine salvage in the thyroid was also observed after TCS exposure. All these changes led to the elevation of ATP, serving as a rescue for the decreasing thyroid functions. Together, our study demonstrated TCS-induced thyroid damage and identified the interrupted pathways, providing meaningful insight into the molecular mechanisms underpinning the potential health influence of TCS in humans.

The Incidence of Needlestick and Sharps Injuries Among Healthcare Workers in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background Needlestickinjuries (NSIs) and sharps injuries (SIs) remain significant hazards in most healthcare facilities that expose healthcare workers (HCWs) to blood-borne pathogens (e.g., HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C). This study aims to review the incidence of NSIs and SIs in King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) and correlate this incidence with several parameters related to the event, including age, sex, length of work experience,type of injury, type of instrument causing the injury, type of activity during which the injury happened, nature of the job of the HCWs, and location within the hospital where the injury happened. Methodology This cross-sectional study involves all self-reported documents related to needlestick and sharp injuries among HCWs at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from January 2017 to December 2020. The data of 389reports of needlestick and sharp injuries detailingincidence and site, shift, type, and instrument related to the incidents were reported to the infection control department for coding and analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)version 22 (IBM SPSS Statistics, Armonk, NY, USA). Results Our data showed that NSIs/SIs could be caused by a wide range of objects used by healthcare workers, including needles, suture needles, scalpels, and sharp devices. Remarkably, the most common cause of NSIs was handling the sharp object (38.8%), followed by disposing of the sharp object (19.3%).Furthermore, nurses were found to be the highest at-risk category of HCWs experiencing NSIs (49.9%), while medical waste handlers (1.5%) and dentists (1.3%) were least likely to incur injuries. Conclusion This study sheds some light on the incidence rates of NCIs and SIs at KFMCand correlates these rates with several demographical, occupational, and experiential parameters related to these events.

Identifying and Decreasing Sharps Injuries Through Root Cause Analysis in a Large Urban Hospital System.

Despite safety mandates and interventions, sharps injuries remain an occupational risk for registered nurses (RNs). Sharps and needlestick injuries increase the risk of exposure to blood-borne pathogens. Post-exposure direct and indirect costs of these percutaneous injuries have been estimated at about US$700 per incident. The goal of this quality improvement project was to identify root causes of sharps injuries for RNs at a large urban hospital system. A retrospective evaluation of sharps injuries sustained by RNs, identification epsication of themes or root causes, and the development of a fishbone diagram to sort the causes into categories to identify workable solutions were conducted. Fisher's exact tests were performed to identify association between variables and root causes. A total of 47 sharps injuries were reported from January 2020 through June 2020. Among sharps injuries sustained by nurses, 68.1% were among nurses 19 to 25 years of age and 57.4% reported job tenure of 1 to 2 years. There was a statistically significant association between root causes and tenure range, gender, and procedure type (p < .05) with moderate effect size (Cramer's V = 0.35-0.60). Technique also was a primary cause of sharps injuries for blood draw (77%), discontinuing line (75%), injection (46%), intravenous (IV) start (100%), and suturing (50%). Technique and patient behavior were primary root causes of sharps injuries in this study. More sharps injuries caused by technique occurred among nurses with job tenure of 1 to 10 years, female, blood draw, discontinuing line, injection, IV start, and suturing procedures. The root cause analysis identified tenure, technique, and behavior as potential root causes of sharps injuries specifically occurring most during blood draw and injections at a large urban hospital system. These findings will inform nurses, especially new nurses in the proper use of safety devices and behaviors to prevent injury.

A survey of pain physicians: Needlesticks injuries.

To investigate and characterize the incidence of needlestick injuries (NSI) in a sample of practicing pain medicine physicians, with the ultimate goal of aiding to prevent these injuries by raising awareness of their prevalence. A cross-sectional research survey. A REDCap survey was emailed to physicians who had membership to the American Academy of Pain Medicine. Eligibility criteria included physicians who were actively practicing and identified as pain physicians who participated in procedures with needlesticks or sharps. Basic demographics without identifiers were collected, including practice setting, years in practice, and training type. Respondents were asked to estimate the number of sharps-involved procedure days per week and per day. They were then asked to estimate the number of NSIs they sustained since completing training and in the past year. A total of 430 surveys were opened by email by potential participants, of which 124 responded (response rate 29%). Data from a total of 109 respondents that met inclusion criteria were included. Roughly 60% of respondents reported at least one NSI since completing training and approximately one-third had sustained more than three NSIs. In the last year, roughly 19% of providers reported at least one needlestick injury. The number of NSIs reported by providers since completing training was not significantly associated with practice setting, the number of procedure days per week, or the number of sharps-involved procedures per day. There was a significant relationship between years post-training and number of NSIs since completing training, with providers with more years post-training reporting higher incidences of NSIs (p < 0.0005). The number of NSIs since completing training and the number of NSIs were also associated, with providers that had sustained a greater number of total NSIs reporting a higher incidence of NSIs within the last year (p < 0.0005). This study characterizes NSIs in a population of pain medicine physicians. These data warrant caution and will hopefully raise awareness amongst providers.

Occupational needle stick injuries and related factors among healthcare workers in military hospitals in Tehran.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are always at risk of experiencing occupational needle stick injuries (NSIs). The primary aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of NSIs among Iranian HCWs in military hospitals in Tehran. This cross-sectional study was conducted in four military hospitals in the summer of 2019 in Tehran. By Census, 802 HCWs were included. Data were collected through a questionnaire consisting of vaccination history, safety equipment, use of safety box, history of NSIs and demographic variables. The logistics regression was used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The statistical significance level was set at 5%. The data were analysed using the SPSS software version 23. A total of 203 (25.3%, CI: 22.3-28.4) of the participants reported a history of NSIs at least once during the past year. Single HCWs had a higher risk of NSIs compared to married HCWs (OR: 1.59, 95% CI (1.09, 2.30)). Also, the night shift working (OR: 1.91, 95% CI (1.18, 3.12)), higher educational degree (OR: 2.25, 95% CI (1.21, 4.20)), working overtime (OR: 1.50, 95% CI: (1.07, 2.12)), older age (OR: 1.02, 95% CI (1.01, 1.04)) and needle recapping (OR: 2.90, 95% CI: (1.98, 4.22)) were identified as significant associated factors. The study draws attention to a relatively high prevalence of NSIs as well as high-risk activities among military HCWs. The primary source of NSIs is needle recapping. Measures such as setting up training courses for the military HCWs are needed to be planned.

The need for sharps boxes to be offered in the hospital setting for people who use substances: Removing sharps boxes puts all of us at risk.

Substance use can occur in the hospital setting among people with substance use disorder, including intravenous use. However, the provision of sharps boxes is not typically offered in Canadian hospitals. This study set out to explore the current issues due to the lack of harm reduction in the hospital setting. Thirty-one health care professionals participated in virtual one-to-one interviews and focus groups regarding harm reduction in hospital. The issue of sharps box removal was highlighted as a concern. A secondary ethnographic thematic analysis explored this theme in more detail. A scoping review of the literature observed additional considerations. Sharps box removal was commonplace for people who were known to be, or suspected of, using substances. Sharps boxes only to be used for medical purposes and fears of box tampering were cited as reasons for removal. Health care professionals noted that patients would have to use sharps boxes situated elsewhere. The scoping review revealed that needlestick injuries for hospital staff decreased with greater access to sharps boxes in hospital. Injuries can be addressed through safer disposal practices. Modern designs of sharps boxes and educational initiatives have been found to be successful in sharps disposal compliance and reductions in related injuries. Ensuring equitable access to sharps boxes would help to reduce unsafe needle discarding which can lead to needlestick injuries for hospital staff and potentially other patients. Education would be a key step in furthering understandings of the importance of sharps boxes and harm reduction as a whole.

Hepatitis B virus vaccination post serological testing and antibody levels of vaccinated health care workers in Accra, Ghana

IntroductionHepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection is an important occupational hazard to Health Care Workers (HCWs) all over the world. International health organizations have strongly recommended the use of the HBV vaccine, especially among individuals at risk of HBV infection. A laboratory test aimed at measuring Anti-HBs concentration (titer) 1–2 months following a 3-dose vaccination schedule is the most reliable approach for diagnosing seroprotection against HBV. This study sought to assess post-vaccination serological testing, seroprotection against HBV, and associated factors among vaccinated HCWs in Ghana. MethodsA hospital-based analytical cross-sectional study involving 207 HCWs. Pretested questionnaires were used to collect data. 5mls of venous blood were collected from consenting HCWs under strict aseptic conditions and quantitatively analyzed for Anti-HBs using ELISA procedures. SPSS Version 23 was used to analyze data with the level of significance set at 0.05. ResultsMedian age; 33, IQR of 29–39. The post-vaccination serological testing rate was 21.3 %. HCWs with high-risk perception and working at the regional hospital had lower odds of adherence to post-vaccination serological testing (aOR = 0.2; 95 % CI = 0.1–0.7) and (aOR = 0.1; 95 % CI = 0.1–0.6) p < 0.05. The seroprotection rate was 91.3 % (95 % CI = 87 %-95 %). Minority, 18 (8.7 %) of the 207 vaccinated HCWs had antibody titers below 10mIU/mL and were not seroprotected against HBV. Geometric Mean Titers (GMTs) were higher in those who received three doses, took a booster, and were less than 25 kg/m2. ConclusionThe post-vaccination serological testing practice was sub-optimal. The seroprotection rate was higher with higher GMTs in those who adhered to the 3-dose vaccination regimen, took a booster dose, and had BMI < 25 kg/m2. It may be inferred that those with Anti-HBs below 10 IU/ml had their antibodies diminishing or waning off with time or they are true vaccine non-responders. This observation calls for strict adherence to post-vaccination serological testing, especially for HCWs who are at high risk of percutaneous and mucocutaneous exposures that could result in HBV infection.

Prevalence and characteristics of needlestick injuries among dental interns during their first-year clinical training: an observational study

BackgroundDental interns are vulnerable to needlestick injuries (NSI). The objectives of this study were to examine the prevalence and characteristics of NSI exposures among dental interns during their first-year clinical training, assess risk factors, and evaluate reporting behaviours.MethodsAn online survey was conducted among dental interns of Class 2011–2017 at Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology (PKUSS), China. The self-administrated questionnaire consisted of information on demographic profiles, NSI characteristics, and reporting practices. The outcomes were presented by descriptive statistics. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to assess NSI sources using a forward step-wise approach.ResultsA total of 407 dental interns completed the survey (response rate 91.9%, 407/443), and 23.8% sustained at least one NSI. The mean number of NSIs per intern was 0.28 during the first clinical year. More occupation exposures occurred from October to December, between 13:00–15:00. Syringe needles were the most frequent sources, followed by dental burs, suture needles, and ultrasonic chips. The risk of peer-inflicted NSIs in the department of Paediatric Dentistry was 12.1 times higher than that in Oral Surgery (OR 12.1, 95% CI: 1.4-101.4). Appropriately 64.9% NSIs occurred when chairside assistants were absent. Compared to working alone, the risk of peer-inflicted NSIs was 32.3 times higher when providing chairside assistance (OR 32.3, 95% CI: 7.2-145.4). The left-hand index finger was the most commonly injured site. About 71.4% of exposures were reported in paperwork.ConclusionsDental interns are susceptible to NSIs during their first-year clinical training. Extra attention should be paid to syringe needles, dental burs, suture needles, and ultrasonic chips. The lack of chairside assistance is hazardous regarding NSIs. The training of chairside assistance of the first-year dental interns should be enhanced. First-year dental interns are required to increase their awareness of ignored behaviors related to NSI exposures.

Bringing Hepatitis Care Closer to the Dentists

Introduction: Among the various cadres of health-care professionals, dentists are placed in a high-risk group of acquiring hepatitis B infection, as an occupational hazard. In a dental setting, hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission may occur directly (blood/saliva/nasopharyngeal secretions of infected patient and needlestick injury) or indirectly (through contaminated equipment). The risk of acquiring occupational HBV infection can be prevented by implicating certain policies such as vaccination, strict compliance with standard precautions, adherence to standard infection prevention and control protocols, and use of personal protective equipment and immediate postexposure prophylaxis in case of accidental exposure to infected blood or body fluids. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the risk of HBV infection in dental professionals based on their knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) and vaccination status score. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered, structured questionnaire with 26 including both open- and close-ended statements such as demography, department, duration of clinical exposure, KAP statements, and vaccination status. A minimum of 80% and 90% score is set to evaluate KAP response and vaccination status, respectively. Data were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS version 26, an IBM tool. Results: The response rate was 100% (n = 92, male = 48, and female = 44). Among the participants, 78% scored &gt;80% in KAP, the overall mean was 84.17 ± 6.08. Forty-eight percentage of participants scored &gt;90% in vaccination status (overall mean: 79.45 ± 21.965). There was an overall good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha value &gt; 0.8). In this study, 48% of the study population were found to be safe, whereas 52% are found at risk. Conclusion: The overall awareness regarding HBV was found to be at a fairly satisfactory level. Further, detailed research with a large study population aiming to determine both KAP and immunity status is required to determine the risk to dentists.

NEEDLE STICK INJURIES IN HEALTH WORKERS

Needlesticks are a common occurrence in the health care profession. It is estimated that 600 000 to 800 000 needlestick injuries occur per year in the United States. Of these, many, if not most, go unreported. In response to the risk of exposure, institutions have focused on primary prevention as a means of reducing the incidence of needlesticks and thereby decreasing the number of bloodborne pathogen transmissions. Needlestick injuries still occur, however, and it is important that individuals in the health care field become well informed about the exposure risks and educated regarding the appropriate response.

Assessment of the attitude and practice of healthcare workers towards management of hospital waste in general hospital Katsina, Northwest Nigeria

Healthcare waste represents a major public health issue, especially in developing countries. Among healthcare waste categories, Waste materials in the form of sharp ends are one of the most hazardous. Exposure to needle stick injuries can lead to blood-borne pathogens, therefore healthcare waste management should be done effectively well. The study was conducted to assess the attitude of healthcare workers towards healthcare waste management. A descriptive study through the employment of structured questionnaires was employed to elicit information from one hundred and fifty (150) healthcare workers in the General Hospital Kastina. Descriptive statistics was employed to analyze and present the data generated. Results generated show that types of healthcare waste generated in the facility can be associated with risks and hazards if not properly treated. From the findings healthcare workers has poor attitude towards waste management. It was recommended that Government should make effort to provide sanitation departments and different waste units in all hospitals which will help to manage the waste disposal

Prevalence and Determinants of Work-Related Injuries Among Healthcare Workers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Background and objective Work-related injuries (WRIs) are a major occupational health issue among healthcare workers (HCWs) worldwide. Unsafe work environments, including physical, chemical, and biological hazards, are significant contributing factors to WRIs. However, the prevalence of WRIs among HCWs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and their associated risk factors remain largely unexplored. In light of this, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of WRIs and associated risk factors among HCWs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Methods This was an analytic cross-sectional study conducted at secondary hospitals of the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Jeddah by using a self-administered questionnaire to measure the prevalence of WRIs and their related factors. The Chi-squared test was used to compare variables. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The study involved 387 participants, of whom 283 (73.1%) were female. Most of the participants (n=226, 58.4%)agreed that personal protective equipment (PPE) was always available at their hospitals. Approximately two-thirds(n=251, 64.9%)agreed that they always used PPE. The overall prevalence of WRIs was 52%, with back injuries (32.6%), eye/mouth splashes (20.4%), and needle stick injuries (19.9%) being the most common. Years of work experience (p=0.014), type of profession (p<0.001), training in safety management (p=0.028), working hours (p=0.0001), working shifts (p=0.001), PPE availability (p=0.010), and sharp container availability (p=0.030) were significantly associated with WRIs. Conclusion This study revealed a high prevalence of WRIs among HCWs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with back injuries, eye/mouth splashes, and needle stick injuries being the most common types. The study also found that the injuries were significantly associated with the type of profession, experience,work hours, andshifts as well as the availability of safety management and equipmentsuch as sharp containersand PPE.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) of post exposure prophylaxis for fifth year dental students at a private Egyptian university: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundHealth care professionals including dental staff are at greater risk of occupational exposure to life threatened blood-borne pathogens. Occupational exposures will continue to occur despite improved techniques of prevention and using the post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in these situations are of great importance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of post exposure prophylaxis for fifth year dental students at a private Egyptian university.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted among 404 dental students in the fifth year at a private Egyptian university from July 2019 to March 2020. Data were collected using self-administrated questionnaires including personal information, knowledge, attitude, and practice questions.ResultsOur study showed that the total mean knowledge score was (0.45 ± 0.50), for attitude (0.70 ± 0.46), and that for practice (0.45 ± 0.50). There was no gender difference regarding PEP (P > 0.05). A total of 213 (47.5%) dental students believed that PEP should be indicated for any needlestick injury in the workplace. A number of 379 of the students (94%) chose “Yes” when asked if they thought PEP is important. While, 143 students (32.5%) were unaware of the existence of PEP service and protocol when asked about the reasons for not taking PEP after occupational exposure.ConclusionsKnowledge and practice of fifth year dental students at a private Egyptian university toward post exposure prophylaxis are not satisfactory. Awareness and curriculum modifications are important regarding PEP.