The Effect Of The Enhanced Education In Needlestick Injury Prevention On Nursing Student In Internship

Background:The needlestick injury is one of the occupational hazards for medical workers around the world. For future nurses, it is essential for students to participate in the patient care procedures in hospital and contact with a variety of needles. That makes them at higher risk of needlestick injuries. As in developing countries, some issues such as the lack of safety needles, inadequate protection education for the nursing students make this problem more prominent. So it’s very important to explore a better prevention program for the nursing students.Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of the enhanced education to the incidence of needlestick injuries and its related knowledge, attitude, behavior for the nursing students.Methods:Quasi-experimental study with historical control was used in this study, with107cases selected conveniently from the school of nursing, Peking Union Medical College. The54cases of2008undergraduate worked as the intervention group, and53cases of2007as the control. The enhanced education was given to the intervention group from the day before internship, then eight times each at the end of every month’s internship, which included the review of the protection points of needlestick injury, case summary and analysis of students’ needlestick injuries. The control group wasn’t given any intervention, but both of the two groups had received3hours’ occupational safety education in the basic nursing course. The self-administered questionnaire of needlestick injuries and needlestick injury related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors were used in about two weeks after the end of the internship to assess the rates and frequencies of needlestick injuries during the eight months and the needlestick injury related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. The needlestick injury related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of the intervention group were also assessed before the education, after the preclinical education and at the end of the1,4,6,9internship month.Results:In the eight months" internship, occurrence rates of needlestick injuries in the control and intervention group were58.68%and33.33%; and the occurrence frequencies were1.58and0.56one person a year, the differences were statistically significant. But, the rates in the intervention group hadn’t decreased to20%as expected. There was a significant difference of the needlestick injuries related knowledge between the control and the intervention; but not in the attitudes and behaviors. There were significant differences of needlestick injuries related knowledge and attitudes at each time point during the eight months’internship, but not in the behavior. Only the score in the end of the9th internship month was statistically higher than that of the1st month. The intervention group expressed satisfaction with the content, form and time of the enhanced education.Conclusion:The enhanced education can reduce occurrence rate and frequency of needlestick injuries in nursing students, it can also improve and maintain the needlestick injury related knowledge, and attitudes of the nursing students in eight months; but couldn’t obviously affect the needlestick injury related behavior. This needlestick injury prevention educational program in nursing students is effective, feasible and worthwhile to continue to expand and to promote in the future.