Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Needle Sticks and Sharp Injuries among Nurses at the Accident and Emergency Department of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi-Ghana

Abstract

Needle Sticks and Sharps Injuries (NSSI) represent a major occupational hazard in the health care industry, with professional nurses incurring a large proportion of the total burden particularly with items that have been previously used on patients. This study investigated the prevalence and risk factors associated with needle sticks and sharp injuries among nurses at the accident and emergency department of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi-Ghana. A cross-sectional quantitative descriptive survey was conducted among 113 Nurses at Accident & Emergency department of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana using a simple random sampling in selecting participants. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. The study shown a prevalence of 47% needle stick and sharp injury among nurses with 33.6% of those injuries resulting from needle stick. Majority (25.5%) of the respondents allowed the injury to bleed as an initial intervention measure. Majority (68.1%) reported the incidence of the injury while (31.9%) did not. Majority (33.3%) of them did not report because they did not know who to report to. Work pressure (53.1%) was identified as the major contributing factor for needle stick and sharp injuries. The study shown a prevalence of 47% needle stick and sharp injury among nurses with 33.6% of those injuries resulting from needle stick. Nurses should be trained on safety measures of handling and disposing needles and sharps and should also be encouraged to report NSSIs in other to get the right treatment and counselling.