Prevention from Sharp Injuries in the Hospital Sector: An Italian National Observatory on the Implementation of the Council Directive 2010/32/EU before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Gabriella De Carli (), Alessandro Agresta, Maria Giuseppina Lecce, Patrizia Marchegiano, Gianpaolo Micheloni, Dimitri Sossai, Giuseppe Campo, Paola Tomao, Nicoletta Vonesch, Sara Leone, Vincenzo Puro and The Studio Italiano Rischio Occupazionale da HIV (SIROH) Group
Additional contact information
Gabriella De Carli: UOC Infezioni Emergenti e Riemergenti e CRAIDS, Dipartimento di Epidemiologia, Ricerca Preclinica e Diagnostica Avanzata, INMI L. Spallanzani-IRCCS, 00149 Rome, Italy
Alessandro Agresta: UOC Infezioni Emergenti e Riemergenti e CRAIDS, Dipartimento di Epidemiologia, Ricerca Preclinica e Diagnostica Avanzata, INMI L. Spallanzani-IRCCS, 00149 Rome, Italy
Maria Giuseppina Lecce: Ufficio IV—Direzione Generale della Prevenzione del Ministero della Salute, 00144 Rome, Italy
Patrizia Marchegiano: SC Servizio Prevenzione e Protezione Aziendale, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Modena, 41124 Modena, Italy
Gianpaolo Micheloni: Servizio Medicina del Lavoro, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, 20162 Milano, Italy
Dimitri Sossai: U.O. Servizio Prevenzione e Protezione, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genova, Italy
Giuseppe Campo: INAIL—Sezione Sistemi di Sorveglianza e Gestione Integrata del Rischio, Dipartimento di Medicina, Epidemiologia, Igiene del Lavoro ed Ambientale, 00144 Rome, Italy
Paola Tomao: INAIL—Laboratorio Rischio Agenti Biologici, Dipartimento di Medicina, Epidemiologia, Igiene del Lavoro ed Ambientale, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
Nicoletta Vonesch: INAIL—Laboratorio Rischio Agenti Biologici, Dipartimento di Medicina, Epidemiologia, Igiene del Lavoro ed Ambientale, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
Sara Leone: UOC Epidemiologia Clinica, Dipartimento di Epidemiologia, Ricerca Preclinica e Diagnostica Avanzata, INMI L. Spallanzani-IRCCS, 00149 Rome, Italy
Vincenzo Puro: UOC Infezioni Emergenti e Riemergenti e CRAIDS, Dipartimento di Epidemiologia, Ricerca Preclinica e Diagnostica Avanzata, INMI L. Spallanzani-IRCCS, 00149 Rome, Italy
The Studio Italiano Rischio Occupazionale da HIV (SIROH) Group: Collaborators of the Group is provided in the Acknowledgments.

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 17, 1-17

Abstract: Sharp injuries, determining the risk of bloodborne infections and psychological distress in healthcare workers, may be prevented by a set of strategies, legally enforced in Europe through the Directive 2010/32/EU. To assess its level of implementation in Italy, a national survey was conducted in 2017 and again in 2021, evaluating the progress and possible drawbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Altogether, 285 safety managers and 330 nurses from a representative sample of 97 and 117 public hospitals were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire. Knowledge of the Directive requirements decreased significantly, with <60% of participants answering correctly in 2021, and nurses’ attendance in specific courses dropped to 25% in 2021 compared to 54% in 2017. Over 75% of hospitals introduced multiple safety-engineered devices (SED), though total replacement occurred in <50% of cases; routine SED availability increased for blood collection (89%) and venous access devices (83%). Incorrect behaviors in handling sharps decreased significantly over time. Nurses’ HBV vaccination coverage was high (89% in both surveys); in the last year, 97% were vaccinated against COVID, and 47% against influenza. Average annual injuries per hospital did not increase significantly (32 in 2021 vs. 26 in 2017). In 2017, nurses’ perceived safety barriers were working in emergency situations (49%) and lack of resources (40%); in 2021, understaffing (73%), physical fatigue (62%), and handling difficulties while wearing full protective equipment (59%). Safety measures were implemented in Italian hospitals, and although the average injuries per hospital did not show a decrease, these measures could have helped protect healthcare workers during the pandemic, mitigating its potential impact on the increase in situations at risk of injury.

Keywords: health personnel; nurses; sharps injuries; needlestick injuries; accident prevention; bloodborne pathogens; COVID-19; accident prevention/legislation and jurisprudence; safety-engineered devices; vaccination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/11144/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/11144/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:11144-:d:907554

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().