Knowledge, prevalence and associated risk factors of needle stick injuries among health care workers in selected wards at Teaching Hospital Batticaloa.

Abstract

Healthcare facilities are known te be one of the most hazardous work place to work. Most studies show that clinical healthcare workers (HCW) have high risk of biological hazards and non clinical HCWs have high risk of physical hazards. The hospitals must focus on strategies for reducing transmission of diseases by needle stick injury and should create awareness among health care workers about the safety precautions. This study was carried out to assess the knowledge, prevalence and associated risk factors of needle stick injuries among Health care workers in Medicine, Surgery, Gyn & Obs and Paediatric wards at Teaching Hospital Batticaloa. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among health care workers in selected wards in Teaching Hospital Batticaloa. Complete enumeration was used to select the sample. A validated self- administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Statistical software (SPSS 21.0) was used to analyze the data. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Review Committee, Faculty of Health - Care Sciences, Eastern University, Sri Lanka. The exposure rate of NSIs 35.9% among them 53.1% has the NSIs within the last year and 60.1% of them did not report the NSIs. And after the injury 78.35% wash the hand with soap & water. 54.6% injury occurred with the use of hypodermic needle. 55.7% believes recapping of needle after use is recommended. 76.85% had work related stress & 79.2% underwent the training on standard precautions. The knowledge about the NSIs among HCWs in Medicine, Surgery, Gyn & Obs and Pediatric wards in THB is satisfactory compare to other previous studies. The exposure of HCWs to NSIs and its under reporting is still an issue in THB. More than half of the population still believe recapping of the needle after use is recommended and its prevalence is high among health assistants. The HCWs in THB have adequate knowledge on what are the actions to take after the injuries. And most of the injuries were caused by hypodermic needles and which were occurred during the use. Most of the health care workers revealed they had work related stress in their work place and most of them had stress in their work place due to increase number of admissions. Considerably high percentage of HCWs come across standard practices regarding how to overcome NSIs. But unfortunately, most of them had come across the standard practices one year before. And they have relatively high knowledge about the standard precautions. Mandatory reporting, proper follow up and constant reinforcement can reduce the rate of complications of NSIs.