Assessing the Impact of Educational Strategies on Reducing Needle Stick Injuries for Nurses in Jordanian Hospitals

Abstract

Background: Needle stick injuries (NSIs) are frequent occupational health hazards among nurses with several consequences including blood-borne infections. Literature indicates inadequate knowledge among nurses as an important associated risk factor. Notwithstanding, little attention has been given to the intervention programs to reduce the occurrences of NSIs in Jordan.

The main objective of this research was to implement and assessing the impact of educational modules and strategies to minimize NSIs for nurses in Jordanian hospitals. Methods: a randomized control trial design with four arms including three intervention groups and one control group was applied. A total of 400 nurses were selected based on stratified random sampling from the four randomly sampled private hospitals. The educational intervention was then provided through three different strategies (Social Media (SM), Audio-Visual (AV), and combined method). Data were collected in three phases, at baseline, after three months, and after six months of the intervention. Results: There were statistically significant differences in the number of NSIs between the control and combined strategy groups (P= 0.002). After 6 months, significant differences were found between control and SM groups (P=0.032), control and AV groups (P= 0.007), and control and combined groups (P<0.001). The leading risk factors of NSIs included fatigue (P<0.001), lack of assistance (P= 0.001), emotional distress (P= .021), being rushed (P= .002), and Lack of skills (P= .001). The hierarchical regression for the prediction of changes in NSIs occurrence produced a model with four predictors after three months (P< .001), and six predictors after six months (P< .001). Conclusion: The educational intervention significantly decreased the occurrences of NSIs. Hospital administrators must consider significant risk factors for NSIs.