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Needlestick Injuries among Health Care Workers: A Literature Review

Needlestick injuries among health care workers are a recognized health hazard, with 400,000 needlesticks occurring annually among the 4 million health care workers in the United States. Existing needlestick injury literature primarily focuses on hospital sites and may not be generalizable to other health care settings such as nursing homes, home health care sites, clinics, and emergency response units. Nurses were at high risk of needlestick injury from syringes and i.v. equipment relative to the other health care workers. Recapping, prohibited by the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, continues to be an identified cause of injury. The literature supports comprehensive injury prevention and control strategies in conjunction with the use of safer needle devices. Health care organizations should assess their worksites to identify hazards and select products and strategies to correct the problem. Future research should clarify accurate needlestick injury rates (e.g., establish consistent denominators), address non-hospital setting risks, validate self reported data, and evaluate comprehensive interventions that employ engineering strategies to minimize the risk.