Needle Stick & Sharp Injuries among Nurses-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Needle stick or sharp injuries are one of the most pressing infectious disease risk currently within the Environment. Answer: Needle stick or sharp injuries is a major concern in the health care setting as it primarily affects large number of health care workers and increases risk of serious infections such as HIV, hepatitis B and C. The injury is mainly caused when needles contaminated with fluids of another person accidentally punctures the skin of an individual while disposing or disassembling needles. The risk and severity of infection also varies on the basis of transmission of different bloodborne pathogen through the needle (Cho et al. 2013). In the health care industry, needle stick injury is regarded as a severe occupational hazard and clinical nurses are experiencing large proportion of the burden of needle stick injuries. Certain factors such as poor awareness about exposure to risk, overcrowding in hospital, failure to implement standard hygiene and precaution, reuse of contaminated needles and poor supply of safety equipments also contribute to high risk of occupational infection. As knowledge gap is one of the reasons for increase in needle stick injuries among doctors and nurses, it is necessary to implement evidence based guidelines in health care setting to minimize the risk of infection. This would help to prevent injuries. Compliance to certain safety measures like hand washing, wearing gloves, mask, face shield and gown during medical procedures can also curb the rate of infection. Employers also have the responsibility to evaluate the safety of medical devices (Akyol and Kargin 2016). Even if needle stick in juries take places despite plan for safe handling and disposal of needle, it is necessary to immediately report about all such injuries to ensure that follow care is provided at the right time. References Akyol, A.D. and Kargin, C., 2016. Needle Stick and Sharp Injuries among Nurses.Glob J Nurs Forensic Stud,1(109), p.2. Cho, E., Lee, H., Choi, M., Park, S.H., Yoo, I.Y. and Aiken, L.H., 2013. Factors associated with needlestick and sharp injuries among hospital nurses: a cross-sectional questionnaire survey.International journal of nursing studies,50(8), pp.1025-1032.