Needle stick injuries: a comparison of practice and attitudes in two UK District General Hospitals*

Abstract

Summary Hospital staff are at risk from occupational exposure to blood‐borne viruses due to needle stick injuries. Occupational health departments have invested considerable resources in the prevention of these injuries, which can be very distressing to the affected individuals. We surveyed health care workers, i.e. doctors, nurses and operating department practitioners, in the operating theatre and critical care units of two UK hospitals located in the Midlands and Merseyside to compare attitudes and experiences. There were significant deficiencies in several aspects of the safe practice of universal precautions. These deficiencies were similar in the two hospitals surveyed and may reflect a national trend. We conclude that every individual, department and trust needs to reflect on their practice and address these deficiencies.

Lost needle: a simple search device for the operating room’s floor

“…As recently documented, not every victim of a NSI reports the incident, ranging from one in ten to two out of three, [3][4][5] hereby raising suspicion of under-reporting when reading official numbers. For the UK, it is assumed that 10,000 British HCW may be affected by up to 623 NSI events [4].…”

“…In the UK, NSI are responsible for 17% of accidents reported to National Health Service (NHS) staff and account for estimated GB£ 500,000 (€ 750,000) extra costs for each NHS hospital trust per year [4].…”

“…According to a recently published surveillance report, NSI were the most-often-found occupational accidents, affecting more often members of the nursing staff (45%; medical staff, 37%) [4]. Although NSI occurring during the surgical procedure were most common (58%), more than one third of the injuries with sharps occurred after the end of operation during disposal [4,6].…”

“…Although NSI occurring during the surgical procedure were most common (58%), more than one third of the injuries with sharps occurred after the end of operation during disposal [4,6].…”

“…Search device Worldwide, round about 35,000,000 health-care workers (HCW) have to face the possibility of a sharp injury [1]. In US hospitals, sharp injuries [including needle-stick injuries (NSI)] are estimated to occur in a range of 193,000 to 756,000 cases per year [2].The frequency of NSI may vary according to medical speciality with surgeons affected most often, followed by physicians from ear-nose-throat, internal medicine, dermatology, anesthesia, gynecology, ophthalmology, pathology/ forensic medicine, neurology/psychiatry, radiology and pediatrics [1].As recently documented, not every victim of a NSI reports the incident, ranging from one in ten to two out of three, [3][4][5] hereby raising suspicion of under-reporting when reading official numbers. For the UK, it is assumed that 10,000 British HCW may be affected by up to 623 NSI events [4].…”