An Assessment of Sharps Injuries in Healthcare Workers

Objectives: During the healthcare services, healthcare workers are under the risk of sharps and needle stick injuries. In this study, we evaluated occupational injuries seen in our hospital and emphasized the importance of reducing the risk of exposure to these injuries through compliance with infection control precautions.Materials and Methods: In this study, we retrospectively evaluated the data of the Infection Control Committee of Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Medicine on work-related sharp injuries among healthcare workers between 01.01.2016 and 01.02.2018.Results: This study was carried out with sixty-six healthcare workers. The mean age of the healthcare workers was 29.3(±7.62) years. The injuries were most frequently observed in nurses. Majority of the injuries had occurred in internal medicine clinics and most of them were needle stick injuries. In 99.7% of the injuries, contamination state was known. Forty-nine of 66 employees were immune to the hepatitis B virus. After the injuries, any acute viral infection was not developed. Three out of the 6 employees injured by positive serology of human immunodeficiency virus sources were given prophylaxis for four weeks after contact.Conclusion: All healthcare workers should be informed about the measures against injuries, the proper use of protective equipment and the importance of vaccination and, they should be subjected to periodic training.