BADN releases needlestick survey results
A survey conducted by the British Association of Dental Nurses (BADN) has indicated that more than half of the dental nurses in the UK and Ireland have suffered a needlestick injury at some point in their career.
Of those who said they’d received a needlestick injury, 60 per cent said they’d received more than one, with 11 per cent saying they’d been injured in the past year. In terms of when their injury occurred, 41 per cent of respondents who’d had a sharps injury said their last injury had happened after use, before disposal and 1.24 per cent said they’d acquired a blood-borne virus as a result.
However, 97.4 per cent of those who’d received an injury knew what steps to take and, out of all survey respondents, 52 per cent rated their needlestick injury training as very good, with 29 per cent rating it good. Of the UK respondents, 21 per cent said that since the Health & Safety (Safe Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 came into force, their practice had not put in place new safety procedures or safety devices.
Pam Swain, chief executive for BADN, said: “Needlestick safety is such an important issue. BADN ran this survey in conjunction with Initial Medical, to gauge how at risk our members are and how comfortable they feel with their needlestick safety training, particularly since new health and safety regulations came into place in the UK last year.”
Rebecca Allen, category manager for Initial Medical, said: “The risk of infection following a needlestick injury is estimated to be one in three for HBV, one in 30 for HCV and one in 300 for HIV, for healthcare workers worldwide, so it is vital that best practice is followed. If you don’t feel like you have had appropriate sharps safety training or you don’t feel the right procedures are being followed, then it is imperative you make this known within your practice.”
Comments are closed here.