Knowledge, Attitude and Practices among nursing students on needle-stick injuries

Aim: To assess the knowledge attitude and practice among nursing students on needle stick injury. Methods: This Cross-sectional study was conducted in Nursing School, Sheikh Zayed Medical College/Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan, during September 2012. We conducted this cross-sectional questionnaire based study on 100 nursing students of four classes of nursing. All were involved in the direct day-to-day management of patients, answered a questionnaire inquiring about occurrence of needle stick injuries, how to open the needle, how to recap the needle, pre-cautionary measures against NSI, immediate response after NSI, report of incidence of NSI, follow-up after NSI, vaccination status of HBV virus, disinfection measures against Blood Borne Pathogens, potential predictors including work experience, work load, working habits, training and risk behavior. Results: Out of total 100 students 44 nursing students reported needles stick injury during the previous 12 months. By causative item all students had been injured by a normal hollow-bore syringe needle. 14( 32%) out of 44 students got NSI by unused syringes while 30( 68%) out of 44 students got NSI by used syringes. 60% students had been vaccinated against hepatitis B, while 40% students had never been vaccinated. Recapping the needle was the most common causative event in 68% students of all cases. Analysis showed that in 90% student's risk factor for needle stick injuries was lack of training on such injuries. Poor recapping the needles and not using gloves when handling needles was found risk factor in 100% nursing students. Conclusion: Hepatitis B vaccination coverage among the students is poor; therefore Hepatitis-B vaccination should be given to all students at admission. The principles of infection-control training and reporting of all needle stick injury continue to be emphasized throughout undergraduate nursing education. Training in the techniques could play a role in reducing the risk for occupational exposure to Blood Borne Pathogens among nurses. In view of the accelerating HCV epidemic, implementation and evaluation of such training programs are urgently needed.