Knowledge, attitude and prevalence of needle stick injuries and practise of post-exposure prophylaxis among health care workers in a teaching hospital in Chennai

Abstract

Context
Needle-stick Injuries are a major occupational risk factor in spread of blood-borne diseases among healthcare workers. The most significant blood-borne diseases are HIV-AIDS, Hepatitis-B and Hepatitis-C.
Purpose
This study was aimed to measure the prevalence of needlestick injuries in a population of nurses, and knowledge about, attitude towards and practice of post-exposure prophylaxis measures with regards to needlestick injuries.
Settings, design
This is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in a private tertiary-care teaching hospital over a period of January to March in the year 2019.
Methods
A sample size of 364 was taken, consisting of nurses. They were selected by convenient sampling of the the hospital in which the study was conducted. They were tested with a predesigned semi -structured questionnaire, and their answers were documented.
Results
Of the 364 nurses who were part of the study, 36 of them admitted to have suffered from a needlestick injury at some point in their careers, of which 8 were injured in the last 6 months. 93.4% of the studied population had been vaccinated against hepatitis B. Only 164 (45.05%) were aware of the correct protocol for filling of the sharps box. Quite a good number of the participants were aware of the importance of Post -exposure prophylaxis in needlestick injuries and 97% were able to name at least one major blood-borne disease. Their knowledge
regarding postexposure prophylaxis is moderately adequate.                                                                                                                                                                                                               Conclusions
Needlestick injuries are commonly seen in nurses, and a large number of them were aware of the health hazards and diseases spread through these injuries. All the nurses were aware of postexposure prophylaxis. Only 83% of nurses were aware of the proper protocol for filling of sharps boxes. There is a need for more frequent reinforcement of guidelines for sharps disposal.