Risk of Sharps Injuries to Home Care Nurses and Aides: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Issue 11 (November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Brouillette, Natalie M.; Quinn, Margaret M.; Kriebel, David
• Is Part Of: Journal of occupational and environmental medicine. Volume 59:Issue 11(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-11
• Subjects: Medicine, Industrial -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Periodicals; Occupational Medicine -- Periodicals; Environmental Medicine -- Periodicals; Environmental health; Medicine, Industrial; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.9803
• DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001160
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1076-2752

Abstract

Abstract : Objective: To evaluate all available literature and develop a pooled estimate of the risk of sharps injuries (SI) among home care (HC) nurses and aides. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted and relevant articles were reviewed following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Primary outcome data from studies identified by the systematic review were pooled using a random effects model to calculate a summary measure of SI risk for nurses and for aides. Results: Five articles were included in the final analysis. Nurses had a 5.25% weighted average risk of experiencing at least one SI in the past year while working in HC (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.11% to 7.40%); aides pooled SI risk was 1.74% (95% CI: 0.72% to 2.77%). Conclusions: Combining findings of all available studies demonstrates that there is a serious risk of SI among both the HC nurses and aides.