Research on Needle Stick Injury and Healthcare Workers Safety

This report presents research on needle stick injuries (NSIs) within the healthcare sector, examining the risks faced by healthcare professionals, particularly nurses. The study investigates the problem statement, which highlights the importance of healthcare workers and the challenges posed by NSIs, caused by contaminated needles. The research explores the impact of NSIs, identifies key research questions, and proposes a methodology using a positivist philosophy, deductive approach, and descriptive design. Data collection involves surveys with healthcare workers and quantitative analysis, supplemented by literature review. The report emphasizes ethical considerations, including confidentiality. The expected output is to understand the severity of NSIs and to recommend the use of safety engineered devices (SEDs) to prevent such injuries. The research aims to provide new knowledge on the effectiveness of SEDs as a preventive measure, contributing to the welfare of healthcare professionals. The report includes references to relevant academic sources to support its findings and recommendations. This research is a full research proposal submitted for the IFN600 assignment, which is a convincing argument for the novelty, value, and feasibility of the proposed project.

Running head: RESEARCH ON NEEDLE STICK INJURY
Research on Needle Stick Injury
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Problem Statement
The health care sector has always occupied an essential position in the lives of the people
of the society (Hasak et al., 2018). Illness and diseases are extremely common within the
purview of human survival and it is the health care sector which provides the concerned
individuals with the necessary equipment and expertise to help them recover. In this regard, the
importance of the health care sector can be judged from the vital functioning and service it
provides to the human civilization by the way of its survival (MacDonald, 2016).
It is important to note that a variety of doctors and nurses are involved in the working of
the health care sector. Although, a lot of progress and innovations have been made in the twenty
first century with respect to the machines and equipment used in the hospitals and clinics, it is
usually the doctors who operate them (Akyol & Kargin, 2016). Thus, there exists a small margin
of error within the health care sector which has the potential to affect most of the people of the
society.
In this regard, it can be observed that one the problems which can be noticed to be
existing within the health care sector is that of needle stick injury (Tarigan et al., 2015). Within
the hospital sector, those individuals who are too ill or unwell to take care of themselves, are
usually admitted. They are in need of certain medical attention to aid in their welfare activities.
For this purpose, the doctors are often found to be using various instruments and mechanisms to
alleviate the pain of the concerned individuals (Bajracharya & Bhandari, 2018). In this regard,
needles are considered to be the most basic instruments which aids in the process of keeping the
individuals safe.
The doctors operate most of the time with needles as they provide the necessary

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instrument to insert the required fluids and medicines in to the body of the individual. It is
during this time that the threat of needle stick injury rises (Jahangiri et al., 2016). Needles are
mainly used by inserting them within the bodies of the individuals. Although this process is vital
to bring in the essential nutrients within the needed bodies, the used needles are extremely
harmful once they have served their purpose. They become contaminated with the germs of the
bodies of the respective people and if not disposed properly, then they have the potential to
severely affect the quality of life of the other people of the society along with the physically
vulnerable people who are admitted within the health care sector (Handiyani et al., 2018).
Needle stick injury therefore refers to those injuries which is caused by the very
instrument meant to protect and increase the quality of life of the physically weaker sections of
the people (Motaarefi, et al., 2016). In this respect, needle stick injury poses a harm to the health
care sector as it the responsibility and the obligation of the doctors and the nurses to ensure the
maintenance of a healthy and clean environment for the people of the society (Elmi et al., 2018).
Research Question
In the course of this research, three research questions have been identified such as-
1. What is the importance of health care professionals within the field of health care industry?
2. What is the impact of needle stick injuries on the health care professionals?
3. What is the importance of SEDs in preventing needle stick injuries among the health care
workers in the hospital settings?
It was noted that it is the third research question which is more important in terms of
examination. The health care sector is supposed to work for the welfare of the people who are

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admitted in the various hospitals and the clinics (Jakribettu et al., 2017). Such vulnerable people
are in need of medical care and attention so as to improve upon their standard of living. In this
regard, in the event that an injury occurs to the health care professionals themselves in such a
hospital setting, proves to be quite ironic. Needle stick injury rises as a result of the improper
disposal of the contaminated needles which were earlier used on the patients (Cui et al., 2018). It
is the responsibility of the health care professionals to dispose them in a proper and efficient
manner. However, during certain events, the disposal of such needles may not take place or their
might be a lacking. As a result of this, there is a need for SEDs which would help the health care
professionals to prevent the occurrence of needle stick injuries among the health care
professionals (Zou et al., 2017).
Research Methodology
This research aims to follow a positivist research philosophy, deductive research
approach and descriptive research design. The positivist research philosophy would enable the
researcher to understand the objective of study through a logical and scientific lens. Furthermore,
the deductive research approach would take in to consideration the various existing theories and
concepts with regard to the field of health care professionals and the different injuries which they
are prone to within their work place. The descriptive research design would conduct both
exploration of the various situations in which needle stick injuries might occur. Furthermore, it
would also explain how needle stick injury is adversely affects the health of the health care
workers themselves and the reputation of the concerned hospital or the clinic under study (Cooke
& Stephens, 2017).
The data would be gathered with the aid of primary source of data collection. A particular
hospital setting would be chosen and with the aid of non-random probability sampling, certain

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doctors and the nurses would be surveyed. The main purpose of the conduction of the survey
method is to understand the personal view point and the experiences of the concerned doctors
and nurses. Certain questions would be asked to them and they would be required to answer
them as objectively as possible.
Once the data is gathered, it would be analyzed with the aid of quantitative data analysis
technique. The main purpose of the utilization of the quantitative data analysis technique is to
provide an objective feedback with regards to the data which has been collected. The use of
charts and graphs would provide a visual representation of the presence of the crisis of needle
stick injury among the health care professional workers (Sarani et al., 2019).
This data would then be collaborated with the information which would be gathered from
the various sources of literature such as those of books, academic journals, articles and internet
websites. This information would provide the base to the researcher to better understand the
primary data and thereby, analyze it by the opinions and concepts which have already been
formulated with respect to the concerned field of study (Salmanzadeh et al., 2016).
However, while conducting the various methods to undertake the research work, it is
essential for the researcher to ensure that certain ethical considerations are taken in to account. In
this regard, the first ethical consideration which should be adhered to is that of maintaining the
confidentiality and anonymity of the participants who part in the survey process. No personal
information related to them should be divulged or made public without their prior consent. This
is needed for the protection of the participants.
Another ethical consideration which needs to be taken in to consideration in order to
make this research work a success is that of ensuring that the data collected is not manipulated to

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serve the motives of the researcher. In other words, the researcher should present the data as it
has been collected and analyze it with accordance to the opinions provided by the existing
sources of literature. This would impart an element of validity and reliability to the research
work which is considered to be the two most important requirements while understanding any
work done by a researcher.
Expected tangible outputs
The main purpose of the research work is to understand the issue of needle stick injury
which is seen to be occurring amongst the various health care professionals working within the
health care sector. In this regard, a quantitative study would be conducted whereby the number
of health care professionals falling victim to a needle stick injury would be taken in to
consideration. This data would be presented in the form of graphs and charts and related with the
information gathered from the various secondary sources of literature such as those collected
from the books, academic articles, journals and official internet websites.
The expected tangible outputs in this regard would be to understand the severity of this
crisis and the impact it has on the larger societal context. The main purpose of this research
would therefore, be to suggest an alternative method which would prevent the occurrence of such
a fatal injury to the health care workers. In this context, the effectiveness of the mechanism of
the SEDs would be analyzed in the course of the research work. This would serve as a
recommendation among the health care professionals in the event that they are ever faced with
the crisis of a needle stick injury. In this regard, it can be concluded that the expected tangible
output of the research work would be to provide a strong and effective recommendation to
prevent needle stick injury as arising among the health care professional workers by the way of
instituting SEDs (Sardesai et al., 2018).

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New Knowledge
The purpose of this research paper is to understand how SEDs would act as a preventive
method to aid in resolving the problem of needle stick injury as perceived within the health care
sector. In this regard, the aim of the paper is to produce a new understanding of how to prevent
the occurrence of needle stick injury in the first place. Furthermore, the effectiveness of this
research paper would lie in the fact that it would recognize the use of SEDs to be an effective
instrument in the prevention of the occurrence of needle stick injury. The previous literatures
pertaining to this field of study have all looked in to the harmful effects of needle stick injury and
how to affects the health care professional workers who are engaged in the health care sector.
However, this paper attempts to understand the importance of SEDs. Furthermore, how such
SEDs aid in the prevention of needle stick injury is looked in to within the framework of this
research work. The addition in the knowledge would prove to be a land mark within the sector of
health care industry and to ensure the welfare of the health care professional workers.

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References:
Akyol, A., & Kargin, C. (2016). Needle Stick and sharp injuries among nurses. Glob J Nurs
Forensic Stud, 1(109), 2.
Bajracharya, M., & Bhandari, S. (2018). Needle Stick Injuries: A study Among Health Care
Workers Tertiary Care Centre Nepal. Medical Journal of Shree Birendra Hospital, 17(1),
44-48.
Cooke, C. E., & Stephens, J. M. (2017). Clinical, economic, and humanistic burden of
needlestick injuries in healthcare workers. Medical devices (Auckland, NZ), 10, 225.
Cui, Z., Zhu, J., Zhang, X., Wang, B., & Li, X. (2018). Sharp injuries: a cross-sectional study
among health care workers in a provincial teaching hospital in China. Environmental
health and preventive medicine, 23(1), 2.
Elmi, S., Babaie, J., Malek, M., Motazedi, Z., & Shahsavarinia, K. (2018). Occupational
exposures to needle stick injuries among health care staff; a review study. Journal of
Analytical Research in Clinical Medicine, 6(1), 1-6.
Handiyani, H., Kurniawidjaja, L. M., Irawaty, D., & Damayanti, R. (2018). The effective needle
stick injury prevention strategies for nursing students in the clinical settings: a literature
review. Enfermeria clinica, 28, 167-171.
Hasak, J. M., Novak, C. B., Patterson, J. M. M., & Mackinnon, S. E. (2018). Prevalence of
needlestick injuries, attitude changes, and prevention practices over 12 years in an urban
academic hospital surgery department. Annals of surgery, 267(2), 291-296.
Jahangiri, M., Rostamabadi, A., Hoboubi, N., Tadayon, N., & Soleimani, A. (2016). Needle stick

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injuries and their related safety measures among nurses in a university hospital, Shiraz,
Iran. Safety and health at work, 7(1), 72-77.
Jakribettu, R. P., D’souza, O. L., Pinto, V. S., Surlu, V. R., Boloor, R., & Baliga, M. S. (2017).
Needle stick injuries among health care workers in a multispecialty hospital: a
retrospective study. Int J Curr Microbiol App Sci, 6(5), 833-7.
MacDonald, C. (2016). Needle stick injury prevention and education (Doctoral dissertation, The
University of Alabama in Huntsville).
Motaarefi, H., Mahmoudi, H., Mohammadi, E., & Hasanpour-Dehkordi, A. (2016). Factors
associated with needlestick injuries in health care occupations: a systematic
review. Journal of clinical and diagnostic research: JCDR, 10(8), IE01.
Salmanzadeh, S., Geravandi, S., Mohammadi, M. J., Malihi, R., Kamaei, S., Alavi, S. M., ... &
Aslani, Z. (2016). Evaluation ofneedle stick injuries among health care workers in a
teaching hospital. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 45, 326.
Sarani, A., Abdar, Z. E., Sheikhbardsiri, H., Hasani, F., & Razavi, B. (2019). Frequency and
damage caused by sharp instruments and needle sticks among staff in a university
hospital, Kerman, Iran. Journal of Acute Disease, 8(5), 200.
Sardesai, R. V., Gaurkar, S. P., Sardesai, V. R., & Sardesai, V. V. (2018). Awareness of needle-
stick injuries among health-care workers in a tertiary health-care center. Indian journal of
sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS, 39(2), 107.
Tarigan, L. H., Cifuentes, M., Quinn, M., & Kriebel, D. (2015). Prevention of needle-stick
injuries in healthcare facilities: a meta-analysis. infection control & hospital

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epidemiology, 36(7), 823-829.
Zou, Z., Yang, Y., Wang, Y., & Jianzhong, D. I. (2017). Needle-stick injuries among health care
workers and protective strategies in a hospital. Chinese Journal of Infection
Control, 16(6), 548-550.

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Reflective Statement
I had quite an eye opening experience in the process of making this research proposal.
The topic was selected by me after careful consideration of many if the injuries which are faced
by the health care professional workers within their work experience. The fact that they would be
getting injured by the very tool which is meant to save a human life, drew my attention and
curiousity. I decided to take this topic as my research proposal after discussing it with my
supervisor. She helped me to refine the topic and narrow it down to a particular level which
further aided me to develop my research question. In the process of making the proposal, three
research questions were identified and from amongst them, only one was selected to focus upon.
After that I had to undergo a huge and extensive review of the various sources of literature which
were available on this particular field of study. My main objective was to understand how SEDs
would aid in the prevention of needle stick injuries as experienced among the health care
workers in the field of health care. I have hopes to add new and significant knowledge in the
field of study so as to ensure that it would be adhered to by majority of those people who are
suffering from this very problem. The entire process of developing the proposal took me three
months.