Zafar Hayat Maken, Neha Siddiqu, Maria Fatima, Zaha Iqbal Malik, Rahy Farooq, Saba Irfan, Maria Khan.
Knowledge attitude and practices regarding needle stick injuries in health care workers and medical students working in a tertiary care hospital of Islamabad Pakistan.
Pak J Public Health Jan ;6(1):45-8.

Background: Needle prick injuries are an important problem among health care workers during the patient handling. The objective of this study was to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of health care workers and medical students regarding needle stick injuries (NSI) in a tertiary care hospital of Islamabad, Pakistan. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on medical students and Health Care Workers (HCW). A structured pre-tested questionnaire was administered during September- November 2015. The data was analyzed by SPSS version 22. Results: Out of 250 participants (144 medical students and 106 health care workers), 102 (40.8%) reported having a needle stick injury. The frequency of needle stick injuries was significantly higher among health care workers as compared to medical students (p<0.001). Most of the injuries occurred while drawing out blood for sampling followed by needle recapping and passing cannula. The most common reason identified by both medical students and health care workers was carelessness followed by being overburdened and stress. 83.2% of the participants were well aware about the risk of infections from NSI. But only21.1% received all 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccination. Practices of HCWs were generally safer than Medical students. Conclusion: Despite of knowing the risks, incidence of NSI was higher in HCWs which reflect bad practices due to overburden and carelessness. Sharps related training should be held annually at every hospital to increase knowledge and improve practices of HCWs and medical students. Reporting of need lestick injury should be made mandatory, appropriate management and proper follow up should be provided. Keywords: Perceptions, hospitals, workers, injuries.

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