A program to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of needle stick and sharps injuries through bundled interventions among nurses: An KAP Mode-Based Approach to Intervention

ABSTRACT

Nurses face a greater risk of needle stick and sharp injuries (NSIs) because they do most of the injections and procedures with sharp instruments. The current study tested a program to improve nurses’ knowledge, attitudes and practices on NSIs, three phases were included: Developing the Hospital Practice Standard, implementing a series of measures and implementing of quality supervision phases. It consisted of a bundle of interventions based on Knowledge-Attitudes-Belief-Practice (KAP-KABP) Model with a pretest-posttest design. We obtained a total of 656 (88.53%) completed pre-intervention questionnaires and 674 (92.97%) post-intervention ones. The number of trained participants on NSIs increased from 615 (93.7%) to 666 (98.8%), and reported of NSIs within 3 months decreased from 42 to 15 (2.2%) after the intervention. The total score of Knowledge of NSIs improved from 19.18 (SD = 1.31) to 19.42 (SD = 0.93) after training (Z = −4.025, P < 0.001), the Attitude was raised from 54.21 (SD = 4.09) to 55.24 (SD = 3.59) (Z = −5.261, P < 0.001), and the Practice increased from 89.28 (SD = 7.22) to 92.74 (SD = 7.22), with a P Value<0.05. The findings indicated the program can improve the nurses’ knowledge and attitudes towards NSIs prevention. There is a statistically significant increase in the practice score and decrease in the incidence rate of NSIs after the intervention.

KEYWORDS:

• needle stick injuries
• safe instrument
• occupational infection
• nursing management
• prevention
• educational intervention

Acknowledgments

This paper is the result of a thesis in general medicine. The authors appreciate the efforts and support of Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute and all the people who helped us in this study.

Disclosure statement

All authors confirm that no conflict of interests exists in this research article.