Prevalence and Pattern of Needle Stick Injuries among Health Workers, Windhoek - Abstract
Infection Control (IC) and Universal Precautions (UP) are very important components of patient care, intended to limit infection transmission in the health care setting. The study objective was to assess the prevalence and pattern of NSI among Health Care Workers (HCWs), in Windhoek hospitals. A cross-sectional study was done with 204 health care workers (HCWs) selected. Questionnaires and record review were used to collect data. Data was analyzed using the SPSS, version 21 and Microsoft excel. Twenty five percent of the HCWs rated the occurrence of NSIs as being common, and the circumstances in which NSIs occurred were when recapping needles/sharps (33%) or during emergencies (24%). Forty eight percent of the HCWs said nurses were more at risk of NSIs while 28% opined that doctors were more at risk. Among the HCWs, 90%, 47% and 21% of the doctors, nurses and cleaners, respectively had ever had NSIs; while the prevalence of NSIs among the respondents was 38%. This study showed that there is satisfactory knowledge among HCWs on UPs and IC. The attitude of HCWs toward UP and IC is a positive and practice of UP and IC is adequate, though this differs among the categories of health workers. Further studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness preventive methods in limiting the occurrence of NSIs and hospital acquired infections.