Occupational Exposure to Blood and Body Fluids among Interns in a Tertiary Hospital in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Paul, Nsirimobu Ichendu; Jaja, T; Opara, PI

doi:10.4236/oalib.1104122

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…In a recent study carried out among medical interns in Nigeria, the high prevalence of exposure to BBF was documented and the major reason for not reporting exposure was a lack of awareness of reporting systems and procedures. 28 . In contrast, a study in West Indies reported the majority of the healthcare workers to be aware of policies and procedures for reporting accidents while the majority of the respondents experienced splashes from body fluids.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure to Occupational-related Blood and Fluids Infections, Accidental Injuries and Precaution Practices among Healthcare Workers in a Tertiary Hospital in South-West, Nigeria

Adetoun¹,

Olanrewaju²,

Temidayo³

et al. 2021

African Journal of Health, Nursing and Midwifery

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Background and Aim: Healthcare workers are at risk of infections from blood-borne pathogens due to percutaneous injuries from sharps, mucous membrane and skin exposures to contaminated blood and bodily ﬂuids. The study, therefore, investigated exposure to occupational-related blood and fluids infections, accidental injuries and precaution practices among health care workers in a tertiary hospital in South-West, Nigeria. Methods: The study utilised a cross-sectional research design requiring a structured questionnaire to elicit data from medical doctors, nurses and laboratory scientists/technologists. Through the convenience sampling technique, 266 respondents were selected for the study. Non-parametric descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data with the level of significance of the chi-square test put at 5%. Results: The overwhelming majority (76%) of the health care workers at the hospital are of the female gender. The study found that the majority of the respondents (92%) were trained on infection control in the course of their career while virtually all of them (98%) had never contracted an occupational-related infection. Recapping of used needles accounted for 24.4% of activity that predisposed the workers to accidental injuries. Also, there was a significant association between the recapping of needles and the occurrence of accidental injuries (P.V. = 0.000). Meanwhile, the incidence of unreported injuries stood at 70.3% as all the reasons given were significant (P.V. = 0.000) using a one-sample chi-square test. Conclusion: It has been established that prevention practices like training in infection control, adherence to clear work procedures and guidelines, post-exposure prophylaxis and use of personal protective equipment were associated with contraction of occupational-related infections. Moreover, while recapping of used needles was a usual practice in the hospital, it was, however, associated with cases of accidental injuries among most health care workers. Unfortunately, most cases of injuries were unreported due to certain significant reasons.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%