Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices among healthcare workers in a tertiary care hospital on needle stick injury
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance
ISSN: 0952-6862
Article publication date: 12 July 2013
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to assess healthcare workers' needle‐stick injury (NSI) knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP).
Design/methodology/approach
A cross‐sectional study was conducted in a 600‐bedded hospital throughout six months. The data were collected using an anonymous, self‐reporting questionnaire. Participants were various healthcare workers (HCW) drawn through stratified random sampling and their knowledge, attitude and practice regarding NSI were assessed.
Findings
There is significant difference in the mean knowledge, attitude and practice scores among healthcare workers. Even though scores are better for doctors and nurses, practice scores were better for technical staff. Healthcare workers, who had better practice scores, had suffered fewer NSIs. Since this study is a cross‐sectional, the population's NSI incidence could not be calculated.
Practical implications
This study emphasizes that applying knowledge to practice is required to prevent NSIs. Various recommendations to help prevent and deal with NSIs are made.
Originality/value
This study analyses healthcare workers' NSI knowledge, attitude and practices, and also assesses their correlation with NSI incidence, which has not been done previously.
Keywords
Citation
Bhargava, A., Mishra, B., Thakur, A., Dogra, V., Loomba, P. and Gupta, S. (2013), "Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices among healthcare workers in a tertiary care hospital on needle stick injury", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 549-558. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHCQA-04-2012-0035
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited