Home › Archive › Volume 1, Issue 2
Jilmy Anu Jose
Sheeja A
Seema K Singh
Sherly Yohannan
Kavita Kumari
Introduction Every day, health care workers are exposed to dangerous and deadly blood borne pathogens through contaminated needle sticks, sharps or splash exposure. These exposures are often considered as part of the job. The pathogens that pose the most serious health risk are Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus and Human immunodeficiency virus. More than 20 other infections can be transmitted through needle stick including syphilis, malaria and herpes. Preventing needle stick injury is the best way to protect the health care workers from these infections.1 Objectives The objectives of the study were to assess the existing practices in prevention of needle stick injury using objective structured practical examination (OSPE) and to assess the practices in prevention of needle stick injury after structured teaching progra mme using OSPE, among the nursing students of a selected educational institute. And also t o evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on practices in prevention of needle stick injury among the nursing students. Methods The research de sign used in this study is quantitative research design: one gro up pre test - post-test design. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample . A total of 30 subjects were assessed and included in the study after informed consent . Null hypothesis is stated as there is no difference between the pre test and post test practice score of the students. A modified checklist was prepared based on the guidelines of American nurses association 2010 to assess the practices in prevention of needle stick in juries using objective structured practical examination. The checklist was used before and after the structured teaching programme. Results Majority of nursing students 93.3% were aware of practices in prevention of needle stick injury. Of all the nursin g students 23.4% nursing students were exposed to needle stick injury. The paired âtâ test was applied and the null hypothesis was rejected and revealed that structured teaching programme was effective on practices in prevention of needle stick injury. It can be interpreted with 95% confidence that the mean score of post -test among the nursing students of selected educational institute is significantly different from the hypothesized value. Conclusion The research study revealed lacunae in the practices of handling sharps such as looking for availability of needle destroyer, checking adequate lighting, placing disposable container with sodium hypochlorite solution, checking for any leftover sharps in the procedure area and holding syringe by middle of barrel. The practices can be improved with the planned and effective structured teaching programme included in the curriculum.
Keywords: Needle sticks injury, Health care workers, OSPE