Awareness and Prevalence of Needle Stick Injury among Nursing Students at King Abdulaziz University

Abstract

Context: Nurses and other health care workers, and at the same time nursing students in clinical training, are at high risk for needle stick injury. The main problem is that needle stick injury (NSIs) can lead to an increase in the risk of over 20 types of infection transmission among health care workers (HCWs), and the most dangerous infections are hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Aim: This study aimed to explore awareness and assess the prevalence of needle stick injury among nursing students at King Abdulaziz University, KSA.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among a convenience sample of 217 nursing students at king Abdulaziz University. A pretested, structured self‐administered questionnaire was used for data collection.

Results: Most of the students (92.6%) were aware that it is necessary to report the needlestick injury, 90.8% thought that there was a chance of getting an infectious disease from a needle stick, and 47.9% knew that all HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C are of these infections. About one-third of students (32.3%) knew that the most common cause of needle stick injury was recapping the needle. For students' practice, 91.2% and 74.2% wore protective gear while handling sharp instruments and did not recap the needle after use. The mean knowledge and practice scores were 9.43± 2.96 and 1.65± 0.52, respectively. The prevalence of needle stick injuries among nursing students was 14.7%.

Conclusion: The study concludes that a good awareness level of nursing students regarding needle stick injuries. This data emphasizes the importance of increased awareness, training, and education of nursing students for preventing needlestick injuries and reporting the incidence.