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Epidemiology of needlestick injuries among health care workers in a secondary care hospital in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Accidental needlestick injuries sustained by health care workers are a common occupational hazard in health care settings. The aim of this study was to review the epidemiology of needlestick injuries in Buraidah Central Hospital, a 212-bed secondary care hospital in Buraidah, Saudi Arabi...

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Autor principal: Jahan, Saulat
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre 2005
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6147994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16119525
http://dx.doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.2005.233
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author Jahan, Saulat
author_facet Jahan, Saulat
author_sort Jahan, Saulat
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description BACKGROUND: Accidental needlestick injuries sustained by health care workers are a common occupational hazard in health care settings. The aim of this study was to review the epidemiology of needlestick injuries in Buraidah Central Hospital, a 212-bed secondary care hospital in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective survey of all self-reported documents related to needlestick injuries, for the period January 2002 through December 2003. The data was analyzed to determine the age, sex and job category of the health care worker suffering the injury as well as the risk factors responsible for needlestick injuries. RESULTS: During the 2-year period, employees reported 73 injuries from needles and other sharp objects. Nurses were involved in 66% of instances, physicians in 19%, technicians in 10%, and nonclinical support staff in 5.5%. The majority (53.4%) of the injuries occurred after use and before disposal of the objects. Syringe needles were responsible for 63% of all injuries. Most injuries occurred during recapping of used needles (29%), during surgery (19%), and by collision with sharps (14%). Disposal-related (11%) causes as well as injuries by concealed sharps (5%) occurred while handling linens or trash containing improperly disposed needles. CONCLUSION: This data emphasizes the importance of increased awareness, training and education of health care workers for reporting and prevention of needlestick injuries.
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spelling pubmed-61479942018-09-21 Epidemiology of needlestick injuries among health care workers in a secondary care hospital in Saudi Arabia Jahan, Saulat Ann Saudi Med Original Article BACKGROUND: Accidental needlestick injuries sustained by health care workers are a common occupational hazard in health care settings. The aim of this study was to review the epidemiology of needlestick injuries in Buraidah Central Hospital, a 212-bed secondary care hospital in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective survey of all self-reported documents related to needlestick injuries, for the period January 2002 through December 2003. The data was analyzed to determine the age, sex and job category of the health care worker suffering the injury as well as the risk factors responsible for needlestick injuries. RESULTS: During the 2-year period, employees reported 73 injuries from needles and other sharp objects. Nurses were involved in 66% of instances, physicians in 19%, technicians in 10%, and nonclinical support staff in 5.5%. The majority (53.4%) of the injuries occurred after use and before disposal of the objects. Syringe needles were responsible for 63% of all injuries. Most injuries occurred during recapping of used needles (29%), during surgery (19%), and by collision with sharps (14%). Disposal-related (11%) causes as well as injuries by concealed sharps (5%) occurred while handling linens or trash containing improperly disposed needles. CONCLUSION: This data emphasizes the importance of increased awareness, training and education of health care workers for reporting and prevention of needlestick injuries. King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre 2005 /pmc/articles/PMC6147994/ /pubmed/16119525 http://dx.doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.2005.233 Text en Copyright © 2005, Annals of Saudi Medicine This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Original Article
Jahan, Saulat
Epidemiology of needlestick injuries among health care workers in a secondary care hospital in Saudi Arabia
title Epidemiology of needlestick injuries among health care workers in a secondary care hospital in Saudi Arabia
title_full Epidemiology of needlestick injuries among health care workers in a secondary care hospital in Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr Epidemiology of needlestick injuries among health care workers in a secondary care hospital in Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed Epidemiology of needlestick injuries among health care workers in a secondary care hospital in Saudi Arabia
title_short Epidemiology of needlestick injuries among health care workers in a secondary care hospital in Saudi Arabia
title_sort epidemiology of needlestick injuries among health care workers in a secondary care hospital in saudi arabia
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6147994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16119525
http://dx.doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.2005.233
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