• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.605-622
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• 1996

Needle stick injury, in which blood-borne pathogens including Human Immune-Deficiency virus and hepatitis B virus are transmitted, is one of the major occupational hazards that health professionals face everyday. In order to provide basic data for the development of educational programs for health professionals aimed at preventing and effectively managing needle stick injuries, a retrospective descriptive study was carried out .The subjects of the study were 630 health professionals, 499 nurses and 131 physicians, from two university hospitals in Seoul, Korea. Data on episodes of needle stick experiences over the past is months September 1994 through August 1995, were collected between September 1 and 7, 1995. A Questionaire developed by the researcher was used. The frequencies and the percentile score for episodes of needle stick injuries were calculated using the PC-SAS program. The differences and similarities in reference to the structure, career, and specialty variables were analysed by X$^2$-tests. Results are as follows : 1. Of the sample, 521(82.7%) reported a needle stick injury, 33.4% reported 3 or more episodes of needle stick injuries. 2. The needle stick injuries occured in the following processes : process of percutaneous venepuncture for intra-venous injection and infusion(55.3%), medical examination and treatment(48.9%), per-cutaneous venepuncture for blood sampling (46.3%) and intra-muscular injection(42.2%). 3. The study showed that needle stick injuries occured before(19%), during(25%), and after (56%) client treatment. The major causes of needle stick injuries were perceived to be hastiness(82.2%) and carelessness(48.3%). Of these injuries, 91.8% occured in emergency situations. 4. Follow of care for the injury consisted of : treating the injured site immediately using disinfectants(89.7%), reviewing the clinical records of the patient involved(84.2%), immunological investigation for the status of antibodies(11.1%) and self-medication of antibiotics (10.7%). Only 16.3% of the total episodes were founded to have been reported to the administrative unit. 5. The length of clinical experience of the nurses, clinical specialty and length of clinical experience in physicians were found to have influenced the episodes of needle stick injuries ; nurses with less than 1 year and with more than 6 years of clinical experiences had significantly lower levels (X$^2$=25.04, P=.00), surgeons had significantly higher levels (X$^2$=9.89, P=.02) compared to that of internists and interns, higher(X$^2$=4.54, P=.03)than residents.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.54-58
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• 2003

Previous research on healthcare workers’ protection has concentrated on liquid barrier protection by providing impermeable personal articles such as latex gloves. This property is of high importance but since most blood-borne pathogen transmissions in the healthcare industry are caused by needle-stick injuries, protection from sharp invasive instruments should also be of high concern. And since latex and alike provide no protection against needle-stick injuries, new protective systems need to be developed and evaluated. This part of the study provides a review regarding the current practice of protection and the serious problems that arise from needle-flick injuries. Additionally, the development of new protective system is described. In part II of the study, evaluation of the new system will be provided.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.27 no.3 s.47
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• pp.403-409
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• 1994

A questionnaire survey wds conducted to assess the experience of the needle stick injury in 144 seniors of a medical school during the previous 10 months. One hundred and five of them (73%) had responded. About sixty-nine percent (72 cases) of the respondents had suffered at least one u and there had been 129 injuries in total. Seventy-eight (56.6%) of the injuries took place at the time of the venipuncture. The emergency and operating room incurred 76.7% and 23.3% of the injury, respectively. Injuries with bleeding account for 50.4%. None of the respondents was systematically educated about the prevention of injury. This survey shows that the needle-stick Injury is a great risk for the medical students' health, and that educational effort for its prevention is warranted.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.129-134
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• 2003

We have shown in Part I [1] of this study that medical needle-stick injuries are causing serious health problems to healthcare personnel and other professionals that require the attention of healthcare and textile researchers to develop new protective systems. Responding to such need, a needle force measurement device that is capable of measuring dynamic forces experienced by medical needles during needle penetration through protective articles was developed and described in part I. This paper reports the results of evaluation of protective woven fabrics from high performance fibers and standard and bifid medical needles using the force measurement system. The woven fabrics varied in cover factor, number of layers, and orientation angle. Standard and bifid needles with different gap widths were used to evaluate the resistance of the fabric to needle penetration.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1995.10a
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• pp.137-138
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• 1995

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.337-346
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• 2005

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the levels in student nurse of knowledge, compliance and risk factor recognition for needlestick injuries. Method: Nine hundred and thirty eight(938) student nurse from 3 universities and 3 junior colleges participated in this study. Completed questionnaires were collected between October and November 2004. They were analyzed by using the descriptive statistics and $x^2$-test, t-test with the SAS program, Results: There were no significant differences in the general characteristics of participants between the two groups-Needlestick Injury(NSI) group and non-Needle stick Injury(non-NSI) group. The scores for knowledge levels of treatment after needle stick injuries and the risk factor recognition level were significantly higher in the NSI group. The scores for performance level as to handling and using needles after needlestick injuries were significantly higher in the non-NSI group. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop a preventive program to decrease the needlestick injury rate among student nurse.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.72-77
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• 2016

Background: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors related to needle stick injuries (NSIs) and to assess related safety measures among a sample of Iranian nurses. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a random sample of 168 registered active nurses was selected from different wards of one of the hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS). Data were collected by an anonymous questionnaire and a checklist based observational method among the 168 registered active nurses. Results: The prevalence of NSIs in the total of work experience and the last year was 76% and 54%, respectively. Hollow-bore needles were the most common devices involved in the injuries (85.5%). The majority of NSIs occurred in the morning shift (57.8%) and the most common activity leading to NSIs was recapping needles (41.4%). The rate of underreporting NSIs was 60.2% and the major reasons for not reporting the NSIs were heavy clinical schedule (46.7%) and perception of low risk of infection (37.7%). A statistically significant relationship was found between the occurrence of NSIs and sex, hours worked/week, and frequency of shifts/month. Conclusion: The study showed a high prevalence of NSIs among nurses. Supportive measures such as improving injection practices, modification of working schedule, planning training programs targeted at using personal protective equipment, and providing an adequate number of safety facilities such as puncture resistant disposal containers and engineered safe devices are essential for the effective prevention of NSI incidents among the studied nurses.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.277-285
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify occurrence of needle stick and sharp injuries(NSI) among students, level of faculty stress, and necessity of informed consent when students practice injection skills in fundamentals of nursing practice (FNP). Methods: Data were collected using self-reporting questionnaires and 74 faculty members who teach FNP responded it. Questionnaires included general characteristics, experiences of NSI, stress level, and informed consent. Data were analyzed using frequency, percent and paired t-test. Results: Of 74 faculty members, 51.4% experienced NSI 3~4 times or more during their FNP classes. Major procedures causing NSI during FNP were 'breaking the neck of ampules', 'disposing of used items', and 'inserting needles'. The stress level of faculty was higher and more than doubled when training with human beings compared to manikins. Most faculties (86.5%) agreed to the necessity of informed consent so that the safety of faculty and students could be protected and to provide enough information even though only 10.8% of faculty in this study got informed consent. Conclusion: Because there is high risk in every procedure of NSI, faculty has a high level of stress during injection practice in FNS. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a standard NSI precaution program for junior nursing students and discuss informed consent.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.194-204
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was done to learn the status of occupational injuries and illnesses among Korean nurses. Methods: Thirty four articles published between 1990 and 2007 were selected using keywords as nurse and back pain, musculoskeletal symptom, violence, needle stick injuries and latex allergy from the database. The 609 RN cases among the workers' compensation data from 2005 to 2007 were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Results: Based on the analysis of the articles, the most frequent work-related illness and injuries were the musculoskeletal symptoms including back pain. The prevalence of back pain was ranged from 36.5% to 98.5%. Tuberculosis cases were the most frequent and the musculoskeletal cases were the second rank in the workers' compensation data. In the case of violence, there has been an increasing tendency since 2000 in the articles and workers' compensation data. The relatively high percentage of compensation cases occurred among the ones working in small institutions and with less than one year experience. Conclusion: The further research on the nurses' work-related illness and injuries needs to consider the measurement tool selection and longitudinal design. The various types of contribution to the occupational health in nursing is suggested to improve the nurses' health and safety.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.66-73
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• 2021

Background: The objective was to assess the knowledge level, attitude, and practice of health care workers towards standard precautions, and to identify the related factors. Furthermore, it was attempted to identify the proportion of having the experience of needle stick injuries (NSIs) and associated factors among participants. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a teaching hospital among 233 health workers using a self-administrated questionnaire. The questionnaire included eight knowledge items, seven practice items, and five attitude items. Based on the mean score of each category, responses were grouped into "satisfactory" and "unsatisfactory". Univariate, bivariate, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done. Results: The mean age of the participants 32.95 (SD ± 9.70) and 62.2% of them were women. 57.5% of the staff had a satisfactory level of correct knowledge (>5 correct answers), 37.3% had a satisfactory positive attitude (>3 correct answers), and 30.9% had a satisfactory practice (>3 correct answers) towards standard precautions. The occupation was one of the predictors as doctors were less likely to have satisfactory knowledge and practice compared to nurses (OR = 0.269, 95% CI: 0.10-0.70 and OR = 0.248, 95% CI: 0.08-0.77, respectively). Out of 174 participants, 31.6% of them reported experiencing NSIs and support staff were 71% less likely to experience NSIs compared to nurses & paramedics. Conclusion: The findings revealed a substandard adherence of standard precautions among participants, which highlighted the necessity of the provision of a periodic, tailored training program based on the occupation and risk exposure.