The effective needle stick injury prevention strategies for nursing students in the clinical settings: a literature review

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

“…This result is comparable among Australian nursing students, wherein 13.9% reported a needlestick or sharps injury during the previous 12 months, and among nursing students in Hongkong, wherein the annual prevalence of needlestick injuries was 0.6 to 1.6 cases. However, much higher rates were reported with nursing students in India (91.85%) and Taiwan (56.00%) (Handiyani et al, 2018), China (60.3%) (Zhang et al, 2018), Turkey (33.0%) (Ozer & Bektas, 2012), and among Arab nursing students in Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia (40%) (Nawafleh et al, 2019). Nonetheless, regardless of the number of needlestick injuries, the incident requires attention because of the risk of exposure to blood-borne pathogens to students.…”

“…A study in Hong Kong disclosed that 58.14% of needlestick injuries were from contaminated needles (Cheung, Ho, Ching, & Chang, 2010). Possessing adequate skills and competencies concerning procedures involving students to handle sharp devices is crucial for nursing students (Handiyani et al, 2018).…”

“…Nursing faculties must be not only proactive in identifying underperforming students early in the class (Oducado, 2019) but also be proactive in promoting the safety of students. It is thereby necessary for nursing schools to develop effective needlestick prevention and monitoring program (Handiyani et al, 2018). In addition, there is a need to bridge communication gaps to enhance the reporting of needlestick injuries (Thomas, 2020) and build a culture that fosters safe reporting of cases.…”

“…Because of their not well-honed skills and limited clinical experiences, nursing students are less skillful when handling sharps thus are at greater risk of injury (Thomas, 2020). A review study demonstrated high rates of needlestick injuries among nursing students in low, middle, to even high-income countries (Handiyani, Kurniawidjaja, Irawaty, & Damayanti, 2018). Aside from the alarmingly high rates of needlestick injuries, there is also a disturbingly low level of reporting the injury (Thomas, 2020).…”

Strengths and Weaknesses in the Risk Management of Blood-Borne Infections: Qualitative Research in Public Health

“…The greatest weakness of the current model is medical staffs’ ongoing defensive attitudes towards patients with potential blood-borne infections, who are consequently treated as the possible source of future infections [ 25 ]. The latter limits actions to individual protection and, to a lesser extent, patient protection, which may increase the risk of infection (for example, when a practitioner uses one pair of disposable gloves for several patients).…”