Needle prick injury at work: The experiences of professional nurses in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

Healthcare workers including nursing students are at risk of getting infected from needle prick injuries. The study sought to investigate the experiences of professional nurses who had needle prick injury in one hospital of Limpopo province. An exploratory descriptive design was undertaken. Population included professional nurses of one hospital in Limpopo province. Purposive sampling method was used to select eleven participants with whom unstructured interviews were conducted until data saturation was reached. Tesch’s Open coding method was used to analyse data. The professional nurses were frustrated after needle prick injury and they lacked knowledge on the protocol to follow after the injury. They also lacked of professional secrecy and confidentiality. Strategies to assist the nurses to cope with their situation after needle prick were recommended based on the findings of the results.