Exposure to work-related sharp injuries among nurses in Nigeria

Abstract

Workplace conditions increase risks to health care workers especially nurses who stay longest with the patient in the hospital. The purpose of this study was to determine the exposure to work-related sharp injuries among nurses and their frequency of contact with needles and other sharp devices at work in a selected Teaching hospital in Nigeria. Two hundred and seventy five (275) registered nurses participated in the study. Questionnaires served as the study tool and were administered following due ethical approval. Statistical analyses include descriptive and chi-square tests with the assistance of SPSS, version 18.Findings showed several factors that constitute occurrence of sharp injury, according to 20% of the respondents, sharp injury occurred while they were administering injectable medicines and 35.3% of them identified needle recapping. To 21.2% and 11% of the participants, breakage of medication ampoule and packing used syringes and needles for disposal were identified respectively. Also, 87.6% of the respondents experienced sharp injury at work while 12.4% did not. The causes of sharp injury result from failure to follow recommended procedures through personal behavioural risks such as safe handling and disposal of needle and syringes. Nurses as the largest network of the health care enterprise need to be competent and up to date in their caring role to minimize sharp injuries at work and its sequelae.

Prevalence of needle-stick and sharp object injuries and its associated factors among staff nurses in Dessie referral hospital Amhara region, Ethiopia, 2018

“…This finding was align with many international studies [ 6 , 10 , 13 ]. On the other hand, the current study finding was higher than the finding of studies done in Malawi (30.3%), Nigeria (23.1%), and India (30.1%) [ 12 , 19 , 21 ] and lower than the studies done in Egypt (62.3%), Nigeria (68.3%), Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (61.1%), and Saudi Arabia (50.9%), [ 4 , 5 , 7 , 11 ]. The prevalence of needle stick and sharp object injury reported from the studies conducted in Addis Ababa, Arba Minch, Bahir Dar, Awi were 66%, 42%, 33% and 18.7%, respectively [ 14 – 17 ].…”

“…In developing countries, where the prevalence of HIV infection is the highest in the world, the number of needle stick injuries is also the highest. Additionally, African health care workers suffer an average of two to four needle stick injuries per year and physicians are much less likely to report a needle stick injury than other healthcare professionals [ 11 ]. Study revealed that, transitional and developing countries where unnecessary injection is common, the average number of health care injection per person is averagely estimated to be 3.7/year.…”

Occupational exposure to blood and body fluids and associated factors among health care workers at the University of Gondar Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

“…The previous study in occupational exposure and behavior of health care workers in Ethiopia shows needle recapping as a major cause of NSI [11]. Our study showed a higher prevalence of needle recapping after use (44.7% (126)), which was greater than the studies conducted in Nigeria (35.3%) [24] and Northern Ethiopia (34.7%) [25]. HCWs who practiced needle recapping were 2.45 times more likely to experience an injury than who did not recap needles after use (AOR = 2.45, 95% CI 1.49, 4.03).…”

Magnitude and Determinants of Needlestick and Sharp Injuries among Nurses Working in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“…For instance, the prevalence of needle recapping after use in this study was 44%, and of these, nearly one-third (30.5%) was recapping using two hands. The practice of recapping is higher in the studies in Nigeria (35.3%) [ 72 ]. In this study, injection (37.7%) and blood withdrawal (24.5%) were the major clinical activities that lead to NSSI in this study.…”