Needle-Stick, Sharp Injuries, and Its Related Factors among Nurses of Imam Reza Hospital, Kermanshah, Iran

Background: Nurses are at risk of injuries caused by sharp instruments in hospitals. The&nbsp;objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of injuries due to sharp instruments and&nbsp;its relevant factors among nurses of Imam Reza Hospital, Kermanshah, Iran. Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 258 nurses working at Imam Reza&nbsp;Hospital of Kermanshah, Iran, in 2013. The data collection measure was a researcher-made&nbsp;questionnaire, which its validity and reliability were verified. The obtained data were entered into&nbsp;SPSS, version 16 and were analyzed using the Chi-squared and ANOVA test at the significance&nbsp;level of P<0.05. Results: According to the findings, 73.3%(n=191) of nurses were exposed to sharp injuries at&nbsp;workplace. About 41.8% of cases occurred during the first year of nursing. Major injuries were&nbsp;caused by needle-sticks (73.3%) and then IV catheter (42.4%). About 43.5% of the observed&nbsp;injuries occurred while trying to recap the needle-sticks. Also, 38.52% of injured nurses&nbsp;performed the tests after injury screening, while 48.7% did nothing after being injured. Conclusion: With regard to the findings of this study, human and environmental factors are&nbsp;effective on these exposures and environmental factors are much effective than human factors. It&nbsp;seems necessary to train the personnel, observe general precautions, and change wrong behaviors&nbsp;namely needle re-capping.