Needlestick injuries among health care workers and protective strategies in a hospital

Abstract:

ObjectiveTo investigate the condition and causes of needlestick injuries among health care workers(HCWs), and explore effective strategies for preventing needlestick injuries. MethodsNeedlestick injuries recorded by healthcareassociated infection management department in a hospital between January 2013 and December 2015 were surveyed retrospectively. Results164 HCWs suffered needlestick injuries, including 71 (43.29%) doctors, 81 (49.39%) nurses, and 12 (7.32%) other HCWs. The number of injuries in 2013, 2014, and 2015 were 47（28.66%）, 54（32.93%），and 63（38.41%）respectively. 152（92.68%）, 9（5.49%），and 3（1.83%）injuries were caused by contaminated medical instruments, uncertaincontaminated medical instruments, and noncontaminated medical instruments. Among 164 cases of needlestick injuries, 67(40.85%) occurred in operating rooms, 141 (85.98%) were finger injuries; the main causes of needle stick injuries were carelessness, busy work and nonstandard manipulation(n=115, 70.12%）, most doctors suffered needle stick injuries due to the lack of experience (52.11%), most nurses suffered needle stick injuries due to carelessness, busy work and nonstandard manipulation(93. 83%). ConclusionNeedle stick injuries among HCWs increased year by year, strategies should be implemented to reduce the occurrence of needle injuries, including strengthening occupational protection consciousness among HCWs, strengthening construction of healthcareassociated infection management system, and improving medical environment.