Skip Navigation


Occupational Medicine Advance Access originally published online on August 25, 2009
Occupational Medicine 2009 59(7):512-514; doi:10.1093/occmed/kqp112
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
59/7/512    most recent
kqp112v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Brusaferro, S.
Right arrow Articles by Baldo, V.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Brusaferro, S.
Right arrow Articles by Baldo, V.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Short Reports

Educational programmes and sharps injuries in health care workers

S. Brusaferro1, Laura Calligaris1, F. Farneti1, F. Gubian1, C. Londero1 and V. Baldo2

1 Department of Experimental and Clinical Pathology and Medicine, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
2 Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Institute of Hygiene, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

Background Sharps injuries in health care personnel still represent a significant problem worldwide. Many studies show a reduction in sharps injuries following the introduction and use of different protection devices, but few studies focus on the role of training programmes in the prevention of such injuries.

Aims To analyse the influence of training programmes on sharps injuries in health care workers (HCW).

Methods The study was carried out in a 350-bed university hospital in north-eastern Italy with 700 HCW. Training courses on biological risk for physicians, nurses, ancillary operators and laboratory technicians have been in place since 1998. Data on all sharps injuries reported by HCW between 1998 and 2006 were analysed together with information on HCW who attended the training courses.

Results Between 1998 and 2006, there was a reduction in the incidence of sharps injuries from 11 to 4% (P < 0.01). During the same period, the number of trained HCW increased from 26 to 69% (P < 0.01). Trained personnel had a statistically significant lower relative risk (RR) for injury with RR = 0.06 (95% CI 0.02–0.18).

Conclusions A continuous educational effort for HCW leads to a reduction of sharps injuries.

Keywords      Healthcare workers' training; needlestick injuries; primary prevention

Correspondence to: Laura Calligaris, Department of Experimental and Clinical Pathology and Medicine, University of Udine, Via Colugna, 50, 33100 Udine, Italy. Tel: +39 0432 559206; fax: +39 0432 559239; e-mail: calligaris.laura{at}aoud.sanita.fvg.it


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.