Effective Factors on Needle Stick Injuries in Health Care Workers

Abstract Aims: Needle stick accidents are a serious health risk for blood-borne infections among health care workers. This study was conducted to evaluate the frequency of needle stick injuries in health care workers and its related factors. Instrument & Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried on HCWs of Shahid Beheshti Hospital of Kashan City, Iran (270 individuals), from September 2013 to March 2014. Due to the low number of samples, all those who had the experience of needle stick injuries and confirmed to participate were entered to the study. A researcher-made questionnaire with 20 questions was used. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software using descriptive statistics. Findings: The most injuries of needle sticks (75.2%) were superficial and the most common device for NSIs was the needle of syringe (51.8%). Blood sampling was the most common activity during NSIs (28.4%). The most common contamination was blood and its products (69.5%). 61 participants (43.3%) used gloves during NSIs. 118 participants (83.7%) were vaccinated completely against hepatitis B, and 19 participants (13.5%) had incomplete HBV vaccination. 4 participants (2.8%) had no history of vaccination against hepatitis B. Conclusion: Needle stick injuries among health care workers of Kashan Hospital are relatively high