Investigating Nursıng Students’ Contaminated Needlestick Injuries

Abstract

Introduction: Nursing students are vulnerable to needlestick injuries (NSIs). This study aimed to determine the rate of contaminated needlestick injuries in nursing students and the protective behaviors used by them to prevent NSIs in their final year where most of the clinical practice takes place. Material and Methods: The universe of this study was composed of 283 nursing students in their final year attending a university in Turkey in 2018-2019.The sample of the study consisted of 60 (283, % 21.2) students who experienced contaminated NSIs during clinical practice. Data were collected by faceto- face interviews with the help of structured forms. The frequency, percentage and mean values of the collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 22.0 program. Results: It was found that 40% of the injuries occurred during blood glucose measurement, 25% during bloodletting and 26.7% during SC application. While 31.7% of the injuries occurred during closing the needle cover, 23.3% were experienced in the process of removing the needle from the patient. In addition, it was found that the rate of using the medical waste sharp needle disposal box was low and only 23 (38.3%) of students who suffered injuries were using it as a precaution. Conclusions: These findings are important for the evaluation and development of safe injection practices and waste management knowledge and skills for students prior to clinical practice. It may be suggested to conduct studies on different strategies on safe management of wastes from health-care activities to examine their effect on students’ NSIs rates.