NEW YORK, Oct 13, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Researchers say the fastest growing
U.S. healthcare sector -- home care -- may pose greater risks for nurses.
The study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, finds the
risk of needlestick injuries in home healthcare nurses was 7.6 per 100 nurses.
A critical finding of the study was the statistical correlation between
needlesticks and exposure to stressful conditions in a patients' household --
such as cigarette smoke, unsanitary conditions, air pollution and vermin. Nurses
reporting these stressors were nearly twice as likely to report needlestick
injuries. Nurses exposed to violence in their patients' households were nearly
three and a half times more likely to also report needlestick injuries.
"Although professionally and personally rewarding for many, home care nursing
can be both physically and emotionally demanding," study leader Robyn Gershon of
the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University says in a statement.
"These types of injuries are serious as they can result in infection with
bloodborne pathogens, such as hepatitis."
More than 700 home healthcare registered nurses from across New York state were
recruited for the study.
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