Perceived Occupational Risk of Contracting HIV and Occupational Exposure to Blood and Body Fluids among Nurses Working in Nigerian Correctional Services Health Facilities in Abuja

Abstract

Objective: To assess perceived occupational risk of contracting HIV and occupational exposure to blood and body fluids among nurses working in Nigerian Correctional Services health facilities in Abuja.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses working in the medical centres of Nigerian Correctional Service in Abuja, Nigeria. A self-administered structured questionnaire which assessed their demographic characteristics, the prevalence of occupational exposures, receipt of training on occupational exposures, their exposure to HIV positive patients and their perceived risk of contracting HIV at work was the data collection tool. Data obtained was subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS software version 22.0.

Results: Out of 55 questionnaires distributed who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, 52 were returned giving a response rate of 94.5%. The majority 42 (80.7%) of the participants were females.  The perceived occupational risk of contracting HIV was very high 8 (15.4 %) and high 22 (42.3%) among the participants. Two thirds 35 (67.3 %) of the participants never received training on prevention of occupational exposure. Regarding prevalence of occupational exposure, 57.7%, 53.8%, 69.2% of the participants had experienced needle stick injury, contaminated sharp injury, splashed by blood or any body fluids and non intact skin exposure at least once in the last 12 months respectively. The majority (48.1%) of the participants were exposed due to unexpected movement of patient during blood sampling and with 28.8 % and 21.2% exposure occurring in the surgical and emergency room respectively. Less than half (48.1%) of the participants reported of their exposure while 51.9% did not report their exposure.

Conclusion: Various types of occupational exposure to blood and body fluids were prevalent among the participants. The majority of the participants perceived their occupational risk of contracting HIV as high and very high. There is a need to provide training for the nurses to prevent and control occupational exposure, promote reportage in the event of occurrence and how to facilitate availability of personal protective equipment at all times for nurses.