Factors influencing injection safety among clinical health care personnel in Garissa provincial general hospital

Abstract

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 16 billion injections are administered in developing and transitional countries each year. Injection safety is therefore critical in preventing occupational exposure and infection from blood borne pathogens which are issues of public health importance. Thus, such prevention is a vital part of any comprehensive plan for protecting health workers, patients and maintaining a safe environment. The main aim of this study was to determine the factors influencing injection safety among clinical personnel at the Garissa Provincial General Hospital. . Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study which was conducted from September 2011 to July 2012. Data collection used questionnaires, observation checklists and key informant interviews. Purposive sampling was used to select 72 respondents who participated in the study. Data cleaning and analysis was done using Scientific Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) Version 18. Descriptive statistics including means, standard deviation and frequency distributions were used in univariate. Associations between variables were tested using Fisher’s test for proportions and ANOVA and t-tests for continuous variables. Thematic analysis was used to analysis the qualitative data. Results: A total of 72 health workers were recruited for the study and most (50%) were nurses. Injection safety knowledge was high and on average, the respondents had a knowledge score of 12.65 (SD ± 2.3) out of the total of 16. Appropriate injection safety practices like non-recapping of needles, hand washing and proper waste management were reported by most of the respondents. The level of knowledge was not significantly associated with respondents’ demographic characteristics (p > 0.05) but was significantly associated with hand washing practice (p=0.01). Drug administration practice varied in the different departments (p=0.043) and recapping of needles was significantly associated with training (0.047), designation (0.02) and area of deployment (0.017). . Conclusion and recommendation: Although the health workers were knowledgeable on injection safety, waste management and injection safety practices were poor. There was insufficient provision of injection safety equipment and supplies in all the areas studied, hence the need by the hospital management to put in place measures to promote good injection safety practices among the health workers.