Abstract

KNOWLEDGE, ATTIUIDUE, AND PRACTICE TOWARDS NEEDLE STICK INJURY AMONG NURSING STUDENTS IN KHARTIOUM STATE/SUDAN

Safaa Fadlelmoula, MBBS, *Zeinab Swareldahab, MBBS, MD and Osama Elkidir MBBS, MPH.

ABSTRACT

Needle stick injuries (NSI) are defined as wounds that are caused by sharp objects like hypodermic needles, due to improper handling or manipulation of needles in different activities such as recapping and failure to dispose needles in puncture proof containers. According to WHO survey 2002 more than 3 million of health care workers suffered a percutaneous injury through contaminated sharp object, which results in about 16,000 occupationally HCV infection, 66,000 HBV infections, and 1,000 HIV infections. Nursing students are at high risk to NSI because they perform an exposure prone technique during their clinical practice. This is a cross sectional institutional based study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of nursing students in Khartoum city towards NSI. Self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 266 Nursery school’s students to collect data on knowledge, attitude, and practice towards NSI. In this study 22.6 % of the nursing students had NSI, the needle stick injury occurred mainly as self-harm during recapping in the first attempt of a procedure using two hand technique. The majority of the students did not report the incidence mainly because they did not know how to report .two fifth of the students were not vaccinated mostly due to being busy, 63.2% always recapped needles, and almost 80% use safety boxes and gloves when they use needles. Only 33% received PEP. more than 80% of the students knew that HIV, and HBV can be transmitted through the needle stick injury while 54% identified the risk of transmission of HCV, and only 9.7% were confident about their knowledge about PEP. More attention and concentration must be directed on effective educational training for nursing students in occupational health as part of curricula of all nursing schools to prevent needle stick injuries by encouraging adherence to standard precautions, reporting of the needle stick if happened, and stress on the importance of post exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

Keywords: Needle stick Injuries, Nursery school, Sudan, Khartoum.