Preventive Measures among Hospital Laboratory Employees regarding Occupational Health Hazards

Ramadan El Metwaly, Samar; Mahmoud Soliman, Nawal; Abdel-Razek Mahmoud, Amina

doi:10.21608/jnsbu.2023.279982

Preventive Measures among Hospital Laboratory Employees regarding Occupational Health Hazards

Document Type : Scientific peer reviewed journal

Authors

¹ Nursing Specialist in Kfer El-Shiekh General Hospital

² Professor of Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Ain Shams University

³ Assistant Professor of Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing- Benha University

10.21608/jnsbu.2023.279982

Abstract

Background: The practices of safety measures by the clinical laboratory workers in hospitals
are necessary for the prevention of occupational hazards. Aim of the study: Was to assess preventive
measures among hospital laboratory employees regarding occupational health hazards. Research
design: A descriptive research design was used in this study. Setting: The study was conducted in
Benha Hospitals at four laboratory departments namely; Benha University Hospitals, Fever Hospital,
Benha Teaching Hospital and Health Insurance Hospital. Sample: A convenient sample of 108
hospital laboratory employees from the previously mentioned settings were involved in the study.
Tools: Two tools were used to collect data. Tool I: A structured interviewing questionnaire to assess
laboratory employees’ socio-demographic characteristics, work characteristics, knowledge about
occupational health hazards and its preventive measures. Tool II: An observational checklist for
safe laboratory environment and practices of laboratory employees regarding prevention of
occupational hazards. Results: 33.3% of the studied laboratory employees aged from 30 to less than
40 years old with mean age 32.25±5.07, 38% of them had skin inflammation, 29.6% of them
exposure to needle stick injuries. Moreover 47.2% of them had good total knowledge score while
73.1% of them had total unsatisfactory practices. Conclusion: There was a highly statistically
significant correlation between total laboratory employees’ knowledge and their total practices
regarding prevention of occupational health hazards (p<0.001). Recommendations: Continuous
training courses about laboratory safety measures should be provided for laboratory employees.

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