Targeted monitoring of sharp injuries among health care workers in a hospital

Abstract:

ObjectiveTo understand the population distribution characteristics and risk links of sharp injuries among health care workers(HCWs) in a hospital,  and provide basis for making effective protection measures.MethodsOccupational exposure of HCWs in a tertiary first class hospital between January and December 2014 were retrospectively surveyed. Occupations of HCWs sustained sharp injuries, exposure locations and links, exposure sources and so on were analyzed.ResultsA total of 2 643 HCWs were monitored in JanuaryDecember 2014,  61 cases of sharp injuries occurred, 43(70.49%）sharp injuries occurred in nurses, 13（21.31%）in doctors. Sharp injuries mainly occurred in HCWs in department of orthopedics(n=9, 14.75%), the major device causing sharp injuries was transfusion needles(n=33, 54.10%), the main manipulation was pulling out the needles (n=21, 34.43%), the main exposure source was hepatitis B virus(n=36, 59.01%); 34（55.74%）HCWs with sharp injuries didn’t wear gloves during manipulation. 54（88.52%）HCWs performed local treatment following sharp injuries, only 18（29.51%）HCWs  received medication(including preventive medication), 43(70.49%) HCWs with occupational exposure were followed up and didn’t develop infection.ConclusionHospital should establish comprehensive monitoring system for occupational exposure injuries, strengthen the training of sharp injuries among high risk population, improve standard prevention, monitor and intervene risk links,  so as to effectively reduce the incidence of sharp injuries among HCWs