A cross sectional survey of sharps including needlestick (SIN) injuries among NSW nurses in 2007: study report

Sharps-related incidents and injuries have been reported in the Australian context in individual hospital settings. Other studies on this topic were conducted in NSW in 2006 on a sample of health care workers in the public sector and by a survey of Australian Nursing Federation members in 2008 about occupational exposures. This cross sectional study has included participants from the private and aged care sectors, and disability and community nursing services and from rural and remote areas. These groups have not been well represented in other studies of Sharps including Needlestick (SIN) injury in Australia. The response rate in this study was low (18.5%) however, the participants constitute the largest sample of nurses (n=1301) reporting on SIN injury in a one year period in Australia in the last decade. This study has been focused specifically on the nursing workforce in NSW; including nurses in public hospitals, private hospitals, aged care, disability services and community nursing services; and city, regional, rural and remote areas.