NEEDLE STICK AND SHARPS INJURIES AMONG HEALTH CARE WORKERS AT THE 37 MILITARY HOSPITAL

ABSTRACT

Background

Needle stick and sharp instrument injuries are occupational exposures encountered by health care workers in the discharge of their duties. These accidental injuries expose them to various infectious diseases as well as the associated psychological trauma that comes with the fear of infection and the side effect of the drugs used for post exposure treatment. This is a serious occupational health hazard among healthcare workers, however, empirical data on the prevalence of needle stick among health care workers in Ghana is unknown.

Objective

The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of needlestick and sharps injuries among health care workers. It was also to examine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the health care workers on sharps and needle stick injuries. It also examined the risk factors and the management procedures in place for these injuries at the 37 Military Hospital.

Methods

The study was a hospital based cross – sectional study which employed stratified random sampling technique for sample selection from the various categories of health care workers. The study was conducted at the 37 Military Hospital, Accra. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 300 respondents from different job categories of healthcare workers at the hospital who were selected proportionate to the sample frame. Participation in the study was voluntary. Data was entered and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22 (SPSS) and excel.

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Results

The number of workers who experienced needle stick or sharps injuries among the respondents was 53.7% (160), while 46.1% (137) did not experience injuries at the time of the study. Healthcare sharp injuries which frequently occurred were needle prick (35.3%), cuts (62.1%), bruises (2.0%) and abrasions (0.7%). The descriptive statistics revealed that 42.8% of the respondents were males with approximately 57.2% being females. Nurses (45.8%) considered in this study were found to be the majority; followed by, doctors (20.9%), laboratory staff (10.8%), ward assistants (6.7%), public health workers (4.7%), laundry staff (4.0%), dental staff (3.7%), cleaners (2.4%) and incinerator attendants (1.0%).

Conclusion

The research concluded that ward assistants were among healthcare workers at the highest risk of sharps injury. Underreporting of medical sharps injury was common while many injured respondents did not seek for post-exposure prophylaxis. There is need for adequate supply and use of safety engineered devices, safe disposal of medical sharps, better reporting and surveillance of sharps injury cases at the hospital. Recapping was found to be the practice that contributed most to needle stick and sharps injuries and should be discouraged.

KEY WORDS: Occupational Exposure, Needle Stick Injury, Health Care Workers