Comparison of awareness about precautions for needle stick injuries: a survey among health care workers at a tertiary care center in Pakistan

Abstract

BackgroundNeedle stick injuries (NSIs) have the potential of causing Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, which is constantly adding to the burden of chronic liver disease in our country. It poses a risk to Health Care Workers (HCWs) and the patients they deal with. In order to limit the spread of these viruses, it is imperative that these HCWs be fully equipped with knowledge regarding prevention of NSIs and dealing with one, regardless of their designation. We therefore aimed to assess and compare the level of awareness about precautions for needle stick injuries amongst all those greatest at risk.MethodsThis was a cross- sectional study carried out at Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. A 23 itemed self-administered questionnaire was given to hospital staff including doctors, lab technicians and nurses via convenience sampling, in various departments. Data was analyzed via SPSS 18 software and a p-value of <0.05 was considered significant.ResultsA total of 198 responses were taken for this study, out of which 70 (35.4 %) were doctors, 70 (35.4 %) nursing staff and 58 (29.3 %) laboratory technicians. Of all HCWs, 101 (51 %) knew that the standard method of discarding needles is without recapping. 159 (80.3 %) were still recapping needles. 180 (90.9 %) HCWs were vaccinated against Hepatitis B. 36 (18.2 %) were aware that blood should be allowed to flow after an NSI and site of prick should be washed with an antiseptic.ConclusionThe awareness was found to be very low amongst all HCWs. It should therefore be made compulsory for all HCWs to attend proper preparatory classes by the infection control department at the time of employment in order to improve the level of awareness and ensure safe practices.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13037-016-0108-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Hematological, Biochemical and Etiological factors of Chronic Liver Disease in a tertiary care Hospital of Lahore

“…Raised ALT levels are observed in CLD patients in this study which is in accordance with another recent study conducted in Pakistan. Regular monitoring of ALT levels and Pegylated interferon plus ribavirin therapy is suggested to reduce the levels of ALT and complications in CLD patients [20]. Pakistan is a developing country with less resources and high burden of all risk factors for CLD, hence, a great challenge.…”

Risk Factors of Needlestick and Sharp Injuries among Health Care Workers at Sanglah Tertiary Hospital

“…Needlestick and sharp injuries (NSIs) are common occupational health problems among health personnel, and their potential impacts include increased risks of contracting blood-borne infections such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS (Qazi et al, 2016). The prevalence or incidence of NSIs among health care workers (HCWs) has been reported to vary widely across different countries.…”

Practice of Nurses Regarding Prevention from Needle Stick Injuries in Tertiary Care Hospital Lahore Pakistan

“…The study investigated the awareness of prevention measures among the health care staff and reveal that 51% were aware of standard practices and 80.3% were still ignoring the standardized protocols. 7 Moreover, Ghurki Trust Teaching Hospital, Lahore, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on nurses highlighted the poor knowledge and higher incidence of NSIs among nurses. 8 In the light of above description and increasing incidence of needle pricks among health workers especially nurses, we planned the current project to analyze the practice of nurses regarding prevention from needle stick injury in Tertiary Care Hospitals of Lahore.…”