NEEDLESTICK – HOW TO PREVENT NEEDLESTICK INJURIES EFFECTIVELY

In Germany some 750 000 people work in hospitals and other patient treatment facilities. Studies showed that the number of needlestick injuries (NSI) per worker per year can be as high as 0.41 (Hasselhorn et al., 1995) or even 0.98). For the workers the consequences of a single needlestick injury can be severe or even fatal: The aims of this study were to quantify the effectiveness of different prevention strategies, such as the use of safety instruments in comparison with conventional instruments, and the effectiveness of special sensitisation training for staff concerning NSI.