Gestione e Prevenzione delle ferite da taglio e da punta in studenti di area sanitaria della Scuola di Scienze Mediche e Farmaceutiche dell’Università degli Studi di Genova

Management and prevention of sharps and needlestick injuries in nursing students. Aim:Investigate the knowledge, the personal perception of risk and describe the epidemiology of sharps and needlestick injuries in nursing students during clinical placements developing a validated questionnaire. Design: a cross-sectional observational study. Methods: a self-administered questionnaire consisting of three sections (demographic data; injury epidemiology; and predictive factors of sharps and needlestick injuries) was developed. Data were collected between July 2018 - January 2019 from nursing students during their clinical placements. Content validity was assessed by a panel of experts, who scored each item on a 4-point Likert scale. This study followed the STROBE guidelines. Results: Of the 238 participants, 39% had been injured at least once with a sharp or a needle, of which 67.3% in the second year. A higher perception of ‘Personal exposure’ (4.06, SD 3.78) was reported by third-year students, whereas higher scores for ‘Perceived benefits’ of implementing preventive behaviours (13.63, SD 1.46) were reported by second-year students. Conclusion Our findings on the prevalence of sharps and needlestick injuries were in line with the literature. The questionnaire effectively investigated the epidemiology of occupational needlestick and sharps injuries, and knowledge and risk perception in nursing students.