A Study on Needle Sticks Injury among Nursing Staff of a Tertiary Care Hospital of Haryana

Background: Needle stick injury is one of the most common forms of occupational hazards in a hospital setting. HIV, HBV and HCV are the three most common infections that can be propagated through this route. Nursing staffs of the hospital are the most vulnerable group to this form of occupational hazards. Methods: The study was carried out in Pt. B. D. Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana. The hospital employs almost 350 female nurses at various levels. 172 nurses were selected by judgmental sampling to calculate the prevalence of needle stick injury in the past five years and also the awareness of the staff. Results: The prevalence of needle stick injury was about 63%. The most common mode was during IV access/ IM injections followed by recapping of needle. The heavy load of patients was the main reason attributed by about 60% of the participants having needle stick injury followed by wrong technique and own carelessness. The use of gloves during IV access and other procedures was seen in only 63% participants.Conclusion: The present study showed the prevalence of needle stick injury to be quite high. Proper training of health care providers regarding techniques to prevent needle stick injuries is the need of the hou

Nutritional assessment among children (1–5 years of age) using various anthropometric indices in a rural area of Haryana, India

Background: Global Nutrition Targets 2025 specified a set of six global nutrition targets, and one aim is to achieve a 40% reduction in the number of children under 5 years of age who are stunted. National data on underweight provided under National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) (2015–2016) revealed an underweight prevalence rate around 35.7% as compared to NFHS-3 where it was 42.5%, which reflects only 6.8% reduction in underweight over a decade. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the rural area of Rohtak district during October 2014 to September 2015 among children who were 1–5 years of age. The anthropometric measurement and nutritional status categorization among children were done using the WHO guidelines. Results: A total of 600 children participated in the study. Around 41.3% of the study participants had stunting as their nutritional status, while taking composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) for nutritional status into consideration, nearly 54.4% of the participants were undernourished. Stunting and underweight were more prevalent among girls. Conclusions: Composite anthropometric index provides the actual prevalence or proportion of undernourished children in a community, so the policies should be based on the basis of CIAF so to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition in the community more effectively