The Effects of Nurses' Personal and Professional Characteristics on Needle Stick Injuries

Masoud  Askari Majdabadi; Seyed Mahdi  mousavi; Saeid  Yazdanirad; Sogand  Pirhadi; Seyyedeh Shadi  Hosseini; Mohammad   Beiruti; Hossein  Rezaei; Fateme  Khoshpasand; Faranak  Najarian

doi:10.18502/aoh.v5i4.7976

Masoud Askari Majdabadi Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Seyed Mahdi mousavi Occupational Health Engineering , School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Saeid Yazdanirad School of Health, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Sogand Pirhadi Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Rasul Akram Hospital, Iran University of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
Seyyedeh Shadi Hosseini Imam khomeini Hospital, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Kurdistan, Iran
Mohammad Beiruti Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hossein Rezaei Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Fateme Khoshpasand Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran
Faranak Najarian Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/aoh.v5i4.7976

Keywords: Personal characteristics; Job characteristics; Nurses; Needle stick injuries

Abstract

Background: Nurses face many professional dangers such as needle stick injuries. This study investigated the effects of nurses' personal and professional characteristics on needle stick injuries.

Methods: The present cross-sectional study was performed on 200 nursing staff in a hospital. The sampling method was the classified method. Participants were asked to complete a researcher-made questionnaire on personal characteristics (age, work experience, gender, marital status, and educational level) and job (work department, number of shifts per month, and type of work shift). Also, the number of their needle stick events was extracted from their medical records.

Results: The prevalence of needle sticks was 45.5%. Based on individual characteristics, the mean age and work experience of people with a history of needle stick are significantly lower than people without a history of needle stick (P <0.03). There was a significant relationship between needle stick history and educational level (P <0.00). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups without and with a history of needle stick in terms of marital status (P = 0.11) and gender (P = 0.13). Based on job characteristics, there were significant relationships between the history of needle stick with the variables of type of work shift (P = 0.00) and the number of shifts per month (P <0.00).

Conclusion: Some personal and professional characteristics effective in needle sticking were identified. These findings can be used as a guide to prioritize individuals to take precautionary measures against needle sticking.