Occupational Accidents with Biological Materials in Nursing at a Teaching Hospital
Biological material; occupationalaccident; nursing; workplacesafety.
In the hospital environment, workaccidentsinvolvingexposuretobiological material stand out
for thefrequency in whichtheyoccurandtheriskofprofessionalsacquiringpathologies.
Accidentsinvolvingbiological material have medical emergencycarecriteria,
sinceprophylaxisinterventionstoprevent HIV infection, for example, require
speedandeffectiveness, starting in thefirst hours afterexposure.
Nursingprofessionalsworkdirectlywithpatientcare, being more
vulnerabletooccupationalexposuretobiological material, such as blood, bodyfluids etc. The
mainobjectiveofthisworkwastoanalyzetheprevalenceofaccidentswithbiological material in
students, residentsandprofessionals in theNursingareaof a Teaching Hospital, in
theperiodfrom 2015 to 2019. Thisis a cross-sectionaldescriptiveepidemiologicalstudywith a
quantitative approach tothe data, which are consideredsecondary, present in
theworkaccidentnotificationformsreferringtotheperiodfrom 2015 to 2019
madeavailablebytheOccupational Medicine sector oftheTeaching Hospital.
Duringthestudyperiod, 77 workaccidentswithnursingprofessionalswerereported, where 90.9%
occurred in femalesand 9.09% in males. As a characterizationofaccidents,
thecategoriesthatpresentedthehighestpercentageofnotificationswereNursing (19.5%)
andNursingTechnician (68.8%). Withregardtoduty, thepercentageofaccidentswas 49.4% for
themorning, 25.9% for theafternoonand 24.6% for thenight shift. As for the sector, the
General ICU stood out, with 18.2%, Wards in general with 45.4% andObstetric Center with
12.9% ofaccidents. Regardingthetypeof material, 67.5% werecausedbyneedlesand 12.9%
bybloodsplatter. Regardingthecircumstances,
thehighestpercentagewasrelatedtothelackofattentionwith 26% ofaccidentscaused.
Thisstudyallowstheidentificationoftheaccident profile,
whichcancontributetothecreationofaneffectiveaccidentpreventionplan, in
additiontotheimplementationofpermanenthealtheducationtoadheretogoodpracticesatwork.