Subnotificação de acidente ocupacional com materiais biológicos entre profissionais de Enfermagem em um hospital público

Abstract

Background: Occupational accidents underwent by nursing professionals following exposure to biological materials are a cause concern, because in addition to the damage caused to the injured professionals, they are also harmful to institutions. Aims: To investigate the underreporting of occupational accidents with biological materials involving nursing professionals. Methods: Descriptive and cross-sectional study conducted with nursing professionals on active work at a public hospital in the city of Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil, through the application of a questionnaire developed by the authors. Results: From 107 nursing professionals in the institution, 96 (89.8%) agreed to participate in the survey, which was conducted from January to March 2015. From the participants, 53 (55.2%) reported having suffered an accident with biological materials. Te prevalence of underreporting was 34% and there were individuals who had suffered up to seven accidents without having reported any. Regarding underreported accidents, 73.9% occurred through percutaneous routes and 67.4% involved blood. Te main reason not to report accidents was that the participants did not consider it to be necessary, and the main reason for the accident, according them, was fatality. Conclusion: Te results of the present study clearly point to the need to develop educational actions aiming at the prevention of accidents with biological materials, which pose a serious risk to healthcare professionals. We emphasize the revelance of reporting such accidents for the planning of preventive strategies, in addition to ensure workers their right to medical assessment, adequate treatment and enforcement of labor rights.