With long hours, staff woes nurses fear needlesticks
ANA survey finds infections remain major concern
Needlesticks — a problem some may have thought solved by needle safety devices — remains a top concern among nurses. The American Nurses Association recently announced the findings of the 2008 Study of Nurses' Views on Workplace Safety and Needlestick Injuries, an independent nationwide survey of more than 700 nurses. According to the survey, nearly two-thirds (64%) of U.S. nurses say needlestick injuries and bloodborne infections remain major concerns, and 55% believe their workplace safety climate negatively affects their own personal safety.
According to the study, the vast majority of nurses (89%) say increasing workloads and workplace stress (84%) affect workplace safety. When asked how their employer ranks key issues, 35% of nurses perceive patient care and organizational reputation as first, followed by patient safety, infection control, health care worker safety and staff productivity. Illustrating scenarios that could potentially increase errors in the workplace, the majority of nurses surveyed (59%) say that when pressure mounts, they feel the need to work faster, even if it means taking shortcuts. Results of the survey underscore the reality of nurses' stereotypical self-sacrificing nature. When asked if they put patient care first before their own personal safety at work, the vast majority of nurses (82%) say yes.
Sixty-four percent of nurses reported being accidentally stuck by a needle while working. That mirrors findings from the 2006 Study of Needlestick Injuries and Safety Devices. Although in 2008, 75% report being stuck by a standard (nonsafety) syringe, and in 2006, the figure was 85%. In the 2008 survey, among those nurses reporting needlestick injuries, a staggering 74% have been stuck by a contaminated needle. This figure is virtually identical to the 2006 study in which 73% claimed to have experienced a contaminated needlestick. In 2008, more than one-third (35%) reported two or more contaminated needlesticks over the course of their career. When asked how nurses attained their most recent needlestick injuries, the top three responses include: while giving an injection (28%); before activating the safety feature (19%); and during the disposal of a nonsafety device (19%).
While the overwhelming majority of nurses (91%) are familiar with their workplace's protocol regarding needlestick injuries, 79% of those accidentally stuck by a needle while working say they reported the incident, compared to 83% in 2006. Although the vast majority (86%)) of nurses believe their department strongly encourages and supports the reporting of needlestick injuries, nearly three-quarters (74%) of nurses believe needlesticks still are underreported, down from 86 % reported in 2006. Nearly half (46%) of those who have been stuck say, during their most recent needlestick injury, they received an evaluation or were treated within one to two hours; yet more than one-third (39%) state they were not evaluated or treated at all. Nine percent say they were treated within four hours; 2% within the first eight hours; 3% the next day; and 1% more than 24 hours afterwards. Ninety-five percent of nurses report taking a hepatitis B vaccine to protect them from hepatitis B infection due to occupational exposure.
Illustrating the improved availability of safety syringes, only 3% of nurses say safety syringes are not available in their health care facility, compared to 7% in 2007. According to survey respondents, the types of safety syringes available in their health care facility include manually retractable syringes (57%), retrofitted syringes (49%), and automatically retractable syringes (37%).
Needlesticks a problem some may have thought solved by needle safety devices remains a top concern among nurses.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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