Hyderabad: One of the occupational haazards doctors and nurses face is needlestick injuries — where they sustain needle injuries while stitching a wound after surgery or while administering an injection.
If the injury occurs after the needle was used on a patient suffering from a disease that spreads through body fluids, there is a risk of the medical personnel getting infected.
A recent study by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, conducted over three years at a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, said that 73 per cent of doctors reported needlestick injuries.
An earlier study in Osmania Medical College and Hospital had found that 90 per cent staff nurses and 60 per cent senior resident doctors had suffered needlestick injuries.
Another study conducted this year by the Konaseema Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Foundation, Amalapuram, AP, found that 53 per cent of 353 healthcare workers in the hospital reported needlestick injuries.
Two major reasons were stated: young and inexperienced healthcare professionals not taking precautions and the high work pressure due to poor staff strength.
