In present study, seventy six percent (n=228) of respondents were involved in
sharp injuries and twenty four percent (n=72) were not involved. This study concluded there
was high occurrence of needle stick sharps injuries among healthcare workers in tertiary care
hospitals of Lahore. There are several risks associated with handling healthcare sharps
among healthcare workers which include, needle prick that could be contributed to cases of
occupational infections such as HIV/AIDS. Majority of reported cases were due to following
reasons , inadequate supply of barrier products ,unsafe practice such as recapping of needle
In paramedical staff due to failure in standard guide lines to handle medical sharps and lack
of reporting of sharps incidents and very lower ratio utilization of post exposure
prophylaxis. It was observed that risks of needle stick injuries were reduced with the
experience. Those who have work experience of 5 years or less had higher ratio of sharp
injuries than those who had work experience five to eight years. Respondents with nursing
profession and laboratory technicians were at high risk; their exposure to handle sharps is
greater and due to failure in precautionary measure risk of needle stick injuries in this
category is higher compared to other. While Females were at high exposure risk of sharp
injuries at tertiary care hospitals than male. Respondents with education level of diploma
were more exposed to needle stick injuries as compared with degree holders in paramedical
staff. It was observed that shift of eight hour work is absolute and healthcare workers were
normal with it. If work load increased and time was exceeded then it was difficult to manage
such injuries .while training on infection control and prevention has no effect in government
hospitals of Lahore to decrease the risk of sharps injury among healthcare workers.
Several recommendations which need to be implemented at the hospitals were
identified as discussed below. and special attention need to be given to nurses , cleaners ,
the critical care section and the department of medicines There is need of fully trained
Summary
38
health care workers in critical care units , medical and surgical ward Momentary to
developed infection control department in every government and private hospital of Lahore
and give them special training about the handling of medical sharps. adequate supply of
barrier products (gloves, masks, lab coats etc) Check and balance on proper use of barrier
product , there is need of timely collection of used medical sharps in puncture proof
containers such as safety boxes that should be ¾ full when emptying .Need of safe
transportation in a covered vehicle for incarnation .Administration of hospital need to
developed polices for reporting of needle stick injuries by designing a log form that capture
information on demographic data of the employee. Data and time of injury, type of sharp,
procedure involved, part of body involved where it occurred. So it’s important to analyzed
enter data in an order to understand root cause. It’s important to conduct surveillance and
prevent further injury. Infection control department should need to check post-exposure
prophylaxis status in health care workers go through counseling and are followed up to
enhance post exposure prophylaxis in health care workers it’s not up to individual effort it’s
a team work by involving administration and health care workers.. In government hospitals of
Lahore there is many factors which contribute to needle stick injuries it might be reduced by
strengthening of reporting system is necessary. The responsibility of government is to
strengthen the check and balance on use of barrier products (gloves, pads, lab coats etc.) and
create awareness on standard guidelines on handling of medical sharps. Thus rate of needle
stick injuries could be reduced to acceptable level.