<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Introduction.</bold> Occurrence of occupational exposure is a current problem among medical personnel. Nurses are considered to be a special occupational group exposed to risk of infection with pathogenic microorganisms. An important element of prevention is raising the workers’ knowledge and awareness in the field of occupational hazards and the possibilities of their reduction. Staff education, knowledge of infection prevention methods, and knowledge of safe procedures can reduce the number of exposures to biological material or, if they occur, limit the health consequences.<bold>Aim.</bold> The aim of the research was to assess the knowledge of nurses employed on the operating block on the risk of occupational exposure and post-exposure proceedings.<bold>Material and methods.</bold> The research after obtaining the consent of the Bioethical Commission was carried out at the turn of 2017 and 2018 in a group of 100 anesthesia nurses employed on operating blocks of two hospitals in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. The author’s questionnaire was used for the research. Obtained results were subjected to statistical analysis, in which the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis test and the correlation of Spearman’s rank order were used. During the statistical verification of the collected material, p&lt;0.05 was assumed as the level of significance of the obtained results.<bold>Results and conclusions.</bold> The examined anesthesia nurses had knowledge about post-exposure procedures at a very good level (the average number of correct answers in the conducted test of knowledge was 14.41 out of 18, which constituted 80.06% of correct answers). The level of knowledge of the examined nurses was not dependent on such factors as: seniority, education, postgraduate education, training during the adaptation period on the operating block, adherence to epidemiological procedures, work on the post in which the procedure for occupational exposure is implemented and followed. The age of the nurses significantly influenced their level of knowledge.</abstract>

Introduction. Occurrence of occupational exposure is a current problem among medical personnel. Nurses are considered to be a special occupational group exposed to risk of infection with pathogenic microorganisms. An important element of prevention is raising the workers’ knowledge and awareness in the field of occupational hazards and the possibilities of their reduction. Staff education, knowledge of infection prevention methods, and knowledge of safe procedures can reduce the number of exposures to biological material or, if they occur, limit the health consequences.Aim. The aim of the research was to assess the knowledge of nurses employed on the operating block on the risk of occupational exposure and post-exposure proceedings.Material and methods. The research after obtaining the consent of the Bioethical Commission was carried out at the turn of 2017 and 2018 in a group of 100 anesthesia nurses employed on operating blocks of two hospitals in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. The author’s questionnaire was used for the research. Obtained results were subjected to statistical analysis, in which the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis test and the correlation of Spearman’s rank order were used. During the statistical verification of the collected material, p<0.05 was assumed as the level of significance of the obtained results.Results and conclusions. The examined anesthesia nurses had knowledge about post-exposure procedures at a very good level (the average number of correct answers in the conducted test of knowledge was 14.41 out of 18, which constituted 80.06% of correct answers). The level of knowledge of the examined nurses was not dependent on such factors as: seniority, education, postgraduate education, training during the adaptation period on the operating block, adherence to epidemiological procedures, work on the post in which the procedure for occupational exposure is implemented and followed. The age of the nurses significantly influenced their level of knowledge.

Knowledge about post-exposure proceedings of the operating block nurses

Pielegniarstwo  XXI wieku / Nursing in the 21st Century

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Knowledge about post-exposure proceedings of the operating block nurses"}

Introduction. Occurrence of occupational exposure is a current problem among medical personnel. Nurses are considered to be a special occupational group...

Knowledge about post-exposure proceedings of the operating block nurses

Published Online: Jun 22, 2020

Page range: 79 - 87

Received: Jul 12, 2019

Accepted: Apr 09, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pielxxiw-2020-0016

Keywords
anesthesia nurse, occupational exposure, post-exposure proceedings

© 2020 Katarzyna Tomaszewska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Knowledge about post-exposure proceedings of the operating block nurses

Published Online: Jun 22, 2020

Page range: 79 - 87

Received: Jul 12, 2019

Accepted: Apr 09, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pielxxiw-2020-0016

Keywordsanesthesia nurse, occupational exposure, post-exposure proceedings

© 2020 Katarzyna Tomaszewska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
anesthesia nurse, occupational exposure, post-exposure proceedings