High risks
Survey reveals dental nurses are still at high risk of sharps injuries, 51.2 per cent of respondents said to have received a sharps injury at some point, with the majority of injuries caused after use, before disposal.
A survey conducted in conjunction with the British Association of Dental Nurses (BADN) and Initial Medical, has indicated that just over half of dental nurses in the UK and the Republic of Ireland have had a needlestick injury at some stage throughout their career.
Pam Swain, chief executive for BADN, says: “Needlestick safety is such an important issue. BADN ran this survey in conjunction with Initial Medical, to gauge how at risk our members are and how comfortable they feel with their needlestick safety training, particularly since new health and safety regulations came into place in the UK last year.”
Of those who said they’d received a needlestick injury, 60 per cent said they’d received more than one, with 11 per cent saying they’d been injured in the past year. In terms of when their injury occurred, 41 per cent of respondents who’d had a sharps injury said their last injury had happened after use, before disposal.
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