Needlestick and sharps injuries among nurses in the healthcare sector in a city of western Turkey

The aims of this study were to determine the rate of bloodborne infections after needlestick and sharps injuries in nurses at work, to estimate the number of vaccinations administered, and to assess whether universal precautions were being followed. The study involved 289 nurses working in five hospitals and six primary healthcare centres. Between 1 April 2002 and 31 June 2002, a total of 139 practising nurses were included in the study following a needlestick or sharps injury. The results of completed questionnaires were collated, and Chi-squared test was used for analysis. The rate of hollow-bored needle-related injuries was 76.2% (106/139). Most nurses (69.1%) did not report any details of their injuries and 32.4% (45/139) of nurses had not been vaccinated against hepatitis B virus (HBV). Only 5.3% of the nurses who responded to the compliance question indicated that they always complied with universal precautions. Of 139 nurses, 1.4% and 7.9% showed evidence of HBV infection and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, respectively. All those who had hepatitis B were aged 30 years or under, whereas most of those who were anti-HCV positive (81.8%) were over 30 years old (P < 0.05). Nurses working in the Turkish healthcare sector are frequently exposed to bloodborne infections. Precautions and protection from needlestick and sharps injuries are important in preventing infection of nurses. Education about the transmission of bloodborne infections, vaccination and post-exposure prophylaxis must be implemented. Further investigations are warranted to elucidate the risk to nurses of contracting these potentially serious infections.