The Effects of Nurses' Personal and Professional Characteristics on Needle Stick Injuries

Nurses face many professional dangers such as needle stick injuries. This study investigated the effects of nurses' personal and professional characteristics on needle stick injuries.

The present cross-sectional study was performed on 200 nursing staff in a hospital. The sampling method was the classified method. Participants were asked to complete a researcher-made questionnaire on personal characteristics (age, work experience, gender, marital status, and educational level) and job (work department, number of shifts per month, and type of work shift). Also, the number of their needle stick events was extracted from their medical records.

The prevalence of needle sticks was 45.5%. Based on individual characteristics, the mean age and work experience of people with a history of needle stick are significantly lower than people without a history of needle stick (P <0.03). There was a significant relationship between needle stick history and educational level (P <0.00). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups without and with a history of needle stick in terms of marital status (P = 0.11) and gender (P = 0.13). Based on job characteristics, there were significant relationships between the history of needle stick with the variables of type of work shift (P = 0.00) and the number of shifts per month (P <0.00).

Some personal and professional characteristics effective in needle sticking were identified. These findings can be used as a guide to prioritize individuals to take precautionary measures against needle sticking.