Abstract:
Background: Sharp injuries are the most common and preventable occupational hazards that
health care workers are exposed for the transmission of a variety of blood borne infections such
as HBV, HCV, and HIV/AIDS. However, there is limited information in the study area that
describes about the prevalence of sharp injuries and associated factors among nurses.
Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of sharp injuries and
associated factors among nurses working in Dire Dawa city administration public health
facilities, Eastern Ethiopia.
Method and Materials: An institutional based cross sectional study design was conducted
among nurses working in Public Health Facilities. All nurses (413) working in all public health
facilities were included in the study. Data were collected using pretested structured English
version self-administered questionnaire. Binary logistic regression was used to identify
predictors of sharp injuries. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to see the association
between the outcome variable and each independent variable.
Results: This study revealed that the one year and lifelong prevalence of sharp injury was
33.16% (95%CI: 29.93%, 36.01%) and 52.3% (95%CI: 47.2%, 56.8%) respectively. This study
showed that year of service/work experience (AOR=2.36, 95%CI: 1.22, 4.59), job related stress
(AOR=2.23, 95%CI: 1.28, 3.87), training on infection prevention (AOR=0.52, 95%CI: 0.30,
0.89) and presence of contaminated sharp materials at work place (AOR=2.77, 95%CI: 1.61,
4.75) were statistically significant with the occurrence of SIs among nurses.
Conclusions and Recommendations: This study indicated that there is high prevalence of sharp
injuries among nurses. Generally, this study showed that year of service, job related stress,
training on infection prevention and presence of contaminated sharp materials at work place
were independent predictors of SIs among nurses. Therefore, strengthening regular provision of
information and training on IP and safety to nurses at all levels should be given more attention
and nurses also should practice proper use of safety box and use personal protective equipments
(PPEs) during handing and working with sharp materials.
