Assessment of Knowledge and practice about needle stick injury among nurses at nishtar hospital in Multan; A hospital based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Needlestick injuries pose a risk to Health Care Workers and patients with whom they interact. These sharp injuries put nursing staff at high risk for occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens (such as HBV, HCV, and HIV), which is continually adding to the burden of chronic liver disease in our country. HCWs must have comprehensive training in NSI prevention and management to avoid the spread of these infections. As nurses are most at risk for needle stick injuries, our goal was to evaluate and compare the degree of knowledge regarding safety measures to prevent needle stick injuries among nurses. Methods: This study design was cross-sectional and conducted between March and August 2022. The 360 female registered nurses engaged in direct patient care at Nishtar Teaching Hospital in Multan, were selected by using a simple random selection procedure. Data were gathered using a quantitative manipulative questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 20.0. Nurses' needle-stick knowledge and safety procedures were correlated using the Chi-square test. The significance (p. value) was selected as 0.05. Results: In regard to needle stick injuries, the results indicated that 48.9% of nurses had enough knowledge, whereas 46.8% agreed with current practice. The majority of nurses (76.6%) know that a needle stick accident is a percutaneous injury, but only 57.8% recognize that it poses a danger for the spread of blood-borne diseases. Roughly half of the nursing workforce believes that needle stick casualties are inevitable. Questions such, as "Do needlestick injuries cause the spread of pathogens?" have a high Chi-square value because of the strong correlation between nursing expertise and age. The best category for knowledge and practice was found among nurses with 6-10 years of experience, suggesting that nurses' length of service to an organization shapes their expertise. Conclusion: The frequency of needle and sharp injuries may be decreased by educating people on how to avoid them by utilizing personal protective equipment while handling contaminated needles and sharp objects that contain blood or other bodily fluids.