Knowledge and practices of health care workers regarding needle - stick injury in a tribal setting of Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, India

2016-10-17T01-05-58Z
Source: International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health
Kiran G. Makade, Dhiraj Bhawnani, Nirmal Verma, Md. Naushad Alam, Laxmikant V. Umate.
Background: Needle Stick Injuries (NSIs) in healthcare settings are a global issue. Percutaneous injuries, caused by needle sticks and other sharps, are a serious concern for all Health Care Workers and pose a significant risk of occupational transmission of blood borne pathogens. The incidence of NSI is considerably higher than current estimates, because of gross under reporting and hence a low injury rate should not be interpreted as a nonexistent problem. The present study was carried out to determine the occurrence of NSI among various categories of HCWs. Methods: The present prospective cross sectional study was carried out at the 400 bedded Government Medical College Hospital, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, India during period from November 2015 to August 2016. Out of total (180) study participants, 18 were doctors, 142 nurses and 20 lab technicians from different clinical departments/wards of the hospital. Data was collected by using a predesigned pretested questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire contained information on background characteristics and second part contained the questions regarding knowledge and practices about NSI. Results: Out of 180 HCW, 149 (82.78%) were females and, 31 (17.22%) were males. Majority of the subjects were nurses (78.89%). 92.2% subjects were aware of the Needle Stick Injury (NSI). 85% of the subjects knew that certain diseases can be spread through NSI. Almost all of them were using disposable/auto disabled syringes and needles at the hospital. Re-capping of used needle was practiced by 35.5% subjects. 63.8% subjects gave history of NSI in the last one year. Most chances of getting NSI were found to be while working in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department (29.4%). 68.9% of the study subjects were immunized completely against Hepatitis B. Conclusions: There was gap between the knowledge and use of preventive measures. There is a need to address this gap by organizing on job training, retraining at regular intervals, workshops for HCWs regarding hazards, preventive measures and post-exposure prophylaxis for NSIs. Preventing NSI should be an essential part of any blood borne pathogen prevention strategy in the work place.


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