Sharp Instrument Injuries and Exposure to Blood and Bodily Fluids of Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Care Facility#

Introduction: Exposure of health-care workers (HCWs) to blood and bodily fluids of the patients due to needle sticks or sharp instrument injuries is a potential risk in daily practice. In this study,the epidemiological aspects of these injuries in a tertiary referral hospital were aimed to be determined. Materials and Methods: The needle stick and sharp instrument injuriesHCWs were exposed to were evaluated retrospectively between January 2011 and July 2013 in Ankara Ataturk Training and Research Hospital. Data were obtained from records of the department of HCW. Results: A total of two hundred and seventy HCWs (172 female, 98 male) were included in the study. Considering their occupations, the HCWs who were exposed to injury or blood/bodily fluidswere as follows: nurses (54.8%), cleaning staff (28.8%) and physicians (16.4%). The most common exposure was detected in surgical departments and operation room (23.7% and 11.5%), followed by medical departments (21.8%) and intensive care units (21.4%) The most common devicescausing exposure were needle sticks (73.8%) and intravascular catheters (6.7%). Eighty percent of HCWs reported wearing protective equipment at the time of exposure. The most common reasons of exposure were reported as carelessness (64.8%), haste (14.4%) and full needle stick/sharp device box (8.1%). The vaccination program for Hepatitis B had been completed for 87.8 % of HCWs. Conclusion: The HCWs working in surgical departments and operation rooms possess a high risk for injury, possibly due to higher work load and high rate of urgent interventions. Although the HBV vaccination rate was quiet respectable, one sixth of the HCWs had no immunization against HBV. It seems that the need for more training in respect to the requirement of vaccination program is clear