Correlative study about nurses′ preventive behavior against needle stick injuries and perception of risks, hospital safety climate

Objective To explore the correlation between nurses′ preventive behavior against needle stick injuries and perception of risks, hospital safety climate as well as provide some references for strategy making. Methods In accordance with a multi-stage sampling method, questionnaires were used to collect data from 1 012 nurses in 8 level three class A general hospitals. Results The average scores of nurses′ preventive actions toward needle stick injuries and hospital safety climate were (3.71±0.50) and (3.91±0.53) respectively. Nurses with high perception of risks accounted for 67.1%. In addition, the Spearman correlation analysis suggested that nurses′ preventive behavior was negatively correlated with perception of risks (r=-0.093, P<0.01), while it positively correlated with hospital safety climate (r=0.463, P<0.01). Conclusions Clinical nurses should have further regulations for protective behavior against needle injuries. We can take measurements actively to reduce nurses perception of risks and create safety work climate that can be benefits for nurses taking favorable protective behavior and reducing the incidence of needle injuries. Key words: Nurse; Preventive behavior; Perception of risk; Hospital safety climate; Needle stick injury; Correlation