Practices for Prevention Needlestick and Sharps Injuries Among Nursing Students

Abstract

Background: Needlestick and sharp injuries are a serious hazard in any health care setting for health care workers and students during clinical practice. Thus, the efforts to prevent the needlestick and sharps injuries are needed and considered a part of the routine practice.Objective: This study aimed to investigate the frequency of nursing students in doing the correct practice in prevention needlestick and sharps injuries.Methods: This cross- sectional study was conducted between 2013 and 2014 in nursing students of Tien Giang Medical College who participated in clinical practice. There were 360 students participated in the study using simple random sampling. Data were collected using the practical assessment checklist and demographic characteristics questionnaire. Data were processed using STATA 12.0, and analyzed using Chi-square and Fisher test.Results: The students who did general practice correctly accounted for 52.50%, and those who did practice incorrectly was 47.5%. The students who used gauze or wool wrap in inhaler were 59.7%, wearing gloves in practice (39.2%), do not disassemble needles from syringes after injection 50%, and removing needles into barrel after injection (65.6%). There was statistically significant relationship between time of participation in clinical practice and correct practice with p-value 0.04 (<0.05)Conclusion: The correct practice of nursing students related to the prevention of needlestick and sharps injuries remains low. There was a significant relationship between time of participation in clinical practice and correct nursing practice. It is suggested that students must be taught about the risk of infection at the beginning of clinical practice, and constantly reminded throughout the learning process, especially for injection safety awareness, knowledge and techniques about the risk of transmission of HBV, HCV and HIV by sharp objects in the healthcare facility.

Nursing Students’ Occupational Health and Safety Problems in Surgical Clinical Practice

“…Besides, some nursing students who do not have a good economic situation face financial pressures to work in paid work during the time they have left their classes and this causes them to experience fatigue. In the literature, it is stated that this fatigue affects the academic achievement of students, and they are not prepared enough for the nursing profession (Rella et al, 2009); it is also reported in the literature that nursing students are prone to experience stress in their clinical training and theoretical training (Pulido-Martos et al, 2012). The fatigue and stress of the students cause accidents to increase, and the safety of the patients remains under threat.…”

Factors Associated with Nursing Students’ Intention to Report Needlestick Injuries: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior

“…Aside from the alarmingly high rates of needlestick injuries, there is also a disturbingly low level of reporting the injury (Thomas, 2020). A study also disclosed poor correct practice of prevention of needlestick and sharps injuries among students (Quynh & Einhellig, 2017).…”