Original Article

Occupational sharps and needlestick injuries among physician residents at an academic health center

  • Alexei Krainev 1
  • Wali Jahangiri 1
  • Sofia Villaveces 1
  • Hannah Phipps 1
  • Victoria Wulsin 1
  • Kermit G. Davis 1
  • Gordon Lee Gillespie 2, 3 *
  • 1. Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, United States
  • 2. Department of Population Health, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, United States
  • 3. Programming Business Unit, National League for Nursing, District of Columbia, United States
* Correspondence:
Abstract:

Objective: Occupational sharps and needlestick injuries (SNSI) are a significant and persistent challenge in the U.S. healthcare work environment. With the purpose of better delineating contributing factors for a ubiquitous occupational injury among healthcare workers, we undertook a two-component study of SNSIs among physician residents and nurses at an academic health center.
Methods: Retrospective injury data among nurses (N = 58) and medical residents (N = 63) were analyzed. A 35-item crosssectional survey was used to evaluate the prevalence, non-reporting, and contributing factors among physician residents who sustained a SNSI (N = 76).
Results: Physician residents had a rate of injury that was 11.0 SNSIs/100 medical residents/year compared to nurses at 3.2 SNSIs/100 nurses/year; a rate three-fold higher. Physician residents in neurosurgery, otolaryngology, obstetrics and gynecology, and general surgery reported the highest rates of injury.
Conclusions: Our results underscore the need for a more comprehensive study to better identify injury drivers specific to the operating room environment.

  • Keywords:
  • Hospitals; Needlestick injuries; Nursing; Occupational injuries; Physicians; Surveys and questionnaires
DOI: 10.63564/jha.v14n1p34
  • How to cite this article: Alexei Krainev, Wali Jahangiri, Sofia Villaveces, et al. Occupational sharps and needlestick injuries among physician residents at an academic health center. Journal of Hospital Administration. 2025;14(1):34-41.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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