A survey conducted in conjunction with the British Association of Dental Nurses (BADN) and Initial Medical, has indicated that just over half of dental nurses in the UK and the Republic of Ireland have had a needlestick injury at some stage throughout their career.
Pam Swain, chief executive for BADN, says: “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.”
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.
Reassuringly, 97.4 per cent of those who’d received an injury knew what steps to take. Out of all survey respondents, 52 per cent rated their needlestick injury training as very good, with 29 per cent rating it good. Interestingly, 21 per cent of UK respondents 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.
Of those who’d had an injury, 1.24 per cent said they’d acquired a blood-borne virus as a result.
Rebecca Allen, category manager for Initial Medical, says: “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 someone doesn’t feel like they have had appropriate sharps safety training or don’t feel the right procedures are being followed, then it is imperative to make this known within the practice.”
*Safer Needle Network 2006