Occupational Health Hazards among Pregnant Nurses in Damietta and Khartoum General Hospitals: An Overview

Abstract

The pregnant nurses' exposure of the hazards daily during contact with sick patients, infectious agents, teratogenic chemicals, radiation and environmental risks. Aim of the study: To assess Occupational health hazards among pregnant nurses in Damietta and Khartoum of general hospitals: An overview. Design: A comparative descriptive research design was used to conduct this study. Setting: carried out in Damietta and Khartoum general hospitals (Egypt and Sudan). Sample: All pregnant nurses working in all departments of hospitals and outpatient clinics. It was 135 pregnant nurses in Damietta and 50 pregnant nurses in Khartoum. Tools : four tools were used for data collection, tool l: demographic characteristics for pregnant nurses, medical and obstetric history of nurses, nurses habits, nurses knowledge regarding occupational health hazed, tool II-physical assessment of studied nurses, tool III :-nurses practices regarding use of the personal protective equipment, tool IV: Assessment of work environment. Result: concerning nurses knowledge, shows that 40% of nurses had satisfactory knowledge regarding occupational health hazards in Damietta hospital, while, 70% of them had satisfactory knowledge in Khartoum hospital. Regarding nurses practices for use of personal protective equipment, shows that 70% of nurses had done practices regarding uses of personal protective equipment in Damietta hospital, while, 80% of them had done practices in Khartoum hospital. Concerning work environment it reveals a highly statistically significant differences regarding physical work environment, housekeeping, floors, stairs, mean of exit, employee facilities, fire protection, electrical, material handling, storage, machining guarding and clinic inside the factor. Conclusion: this study concluded that there were no statistically important correlation between total knowledge about occupational health hazards facing nurses in the workplace and total practices regarding use of PPE measures (P<0.05). Recommendation: Continuing nurse health education program to reduce occupational health risk in the workplace.