A comparative study on knowledge, attitude, and practice of injection safety among nurses in two hospitals in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

This descriptive study took place in University College Hospital and Adeoyo Maternity Teaching Hospital, Ibadan. Convenience Sampling Technique was used for selecting study participants while data collection was done with the aid of questionnaire. Following ethical approval, a total of 295 and 105 questionnaires were administered face to face respectively in the two participating centers. However, only 385 were fit for analysis. The mean age of the respondents was 37 years and most of them (92.5%) were females. All have heard about injection safety. Their knowledge level was high, 70.4% knew that unsafe injection predisposes to blood-borne infection, 55.9% had correct information that two-handed recapping is not a safe injection practice while, 84.4% claimed that contaminated sharps predisposes the community to bio-hazards and 293 (76.1%) had correct information that used syringes and needles should be discarded in a sharp waste box. However, the high knowledge was not translated to practice. Half (50.4%) of the recently sustained injuries was through intramuscular or subcutaneous injections. Only 15.6% reported the injuries to their institution. Out of the total respondents, 62.9% knew that their hospitals have injection policies while 53.2% said that nurses are not involved of such policies. Doctors were alleged by 79.5% as the health care workers who most frequently leave sharps at the patients' bed side. Nurses, as the nerve centre of the healthcare enterprise, must be advocates of safe injection practices. Introduction Medical treatment is intended to save life and improve health, and all health workers, especially nurses as the most populated healthcare workers who spend the most time with the patients, have a responsibility to prevent transmission of health-care associated infections. Adherence to safe injection practices and related infection control is part of that responsibility as it protects patients and health workers. The purpose of this study is to explore the knowledge, attitudes and practices of injection safety among nurses in two selected hospitals in Ibadan. The following are the specific objectives: (a) to assess nurses' knowledge on injection safety, (b) explore their attitudes towards injection safety, (c) find out if health facilities meet necessary injection safety requirements, and (d) identify unsafe injection practices that may be targeted for injection safety intervention activities. The study therefore seeks to provide answers to the following questions: What is the level of knowledge of nurses about injection safety? What is their attitude towards injection safety practices? What are the unsafe injection practices to be targeted for injection safety interventions? Do the selected hospitals have the necessary requirements for ideal injection safety? Are there hospital policies about injection safety in selected setting and what is the level of involvement of nurses in such policies?