A Study on Universal Precautions and Needle Stick Injuries among Nursing Staff in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Davangere Javalkar Sandhya Rani1,*, Sanjana S N2 1Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, JJM Medical College, Davangere, Karnataka 2Postgraduate, Department of Community Medicine, JJM Medical College, Davangere, Karnataka *Corresponding Author: Dr. Sandhya Rani Javalkar MBBS, MD Community Medicine Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, JJM Medical College, Davangere, Karnataka-577004 Mobile: 9036567046 Email: sandhyaranijavalkar@gmail.com
Online published on 21 February, 2019. Abstract Introduction Nurses play a pivotal role in care giving of the patients, hence are subjected to exposure to blood and body fluids. The nursing staffs in hospitals are frequently put through to provide care to patients whose infectious status is unknown. Universal Precautions prevent parenteral, mucous membrane, and non intact skin exposures to blood borne pathogens. Needle stick injuries are predominant occupational hazard that can have most dreaded outcomes. Objectives to study the Universal Precaution Practices and the Needle Stick Injuries among nursing staff in a Tertiary care Hospital. Method A cross sectional study was conducted among 214 nursing staff, working in a tertiary care hospital. Data was collected by personal interview method using a pre designed semi-structured questionnaire. Data was compiled in Microsoft Excel and SPSS software was used to analyze the data. Results In this study 214 nursing staff participated, whose mean age was 33.3(+/-8.5) yrs. There were 196 (91.6%) female and 18(8.4%) male, with a mean work experience of 8.9 (+/-7.3) yrs. The compliance towards hand washing was 96.7%, the practice of using personal protection equipments among nurses varied from 42.5% to 87.4% depending on the type of equipment. 57.5% had a needle stick injury at least once in past year. 87.4% reported recapping used needles. Conclusion Universal Precaution Practices showed good compliance towards hand washing and the practice of using personal protection equipments varied depending on the type of equipment, more than half of nurses had needle stick injury in past year. Top Keywords Universal Precautions, Needle Stick Injuries, Nurses. Top |