Abstract

Healthcare professionals may encounter infectious microorganisms while providing health care for patients predominantly following percutaneous needle stick injuries. Approximately 3 million percutaneous exposures to blood borne pathogens occur annually among healthcare workers worldwide. However, to what extent does this problem occur among nurses in public hospitals of Jimma Zone is not known. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 211 nurses working in public hospitals of Jimma Zone from 20 to 30 March, 2012.  Data was collected through self-administered questionnaires. Of the total 211 nurses, 83 (39.3%) had sustained needle-stick injuries in the last one year. The odds of needle-stick injury were 88% less likely among nurses who had received training on needle-stick injury (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.2, 95% CI = 0.1, 0.4). The risk of a needle-stick injury was 3 times higher in nurses who had a low level of knowledge when compared with nurses having a high level of knowledge (AOR = 3.2, 95% CI = 1.6,6.5). The study revealed that a significant amount of needle-stick injuries occurs among nurses in hospitals of Jimma zone.

Key words: Prevalence, predictors, needle-stick injury, nurses, Jimma Zone.