OCCUPATIONAL NEEDLESTICK INJURIES IN A REGIONAL HOSPITAL OF MINAS GERAIS, BRASIL

Abstract

The frequency of accidents with piercing or cutting material is significant in the hospital environment due to the great extent to which these instruments are manipulated by nursing. This retrospective and descriptive study, which was held at the SCMP between 2000 and 2002, aimed to identify the occurrence of occupational accidents with piercing or cutting material. The results disclosed that, among the 219 officially notified occupational accidents, 139 (63.5%) were caused by piercing or cutting material. The most affected professional category were the nursing aids (43.9%) with less than 05 years on the job (46.8%) and female (74.1%). The sectors were accidents most frequently occurred were the Medical and Surgical clinics and the most frequent situation was discarding in an inappropriate place (21.6%) while the most frequent causing object was the needle (46.8%). It was concluded that knowledge about the situation in which the accident occurs is fundamental in order to guide strategic prevention actions in the institutions.