Assessment of the level of adherence of health care workers to workplace safety measures provided at the Enugu state university teaching hospital Enugu, Nigeria
Department of Community Medicine and Primary Health Care, College of Medicine, ESUT Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical and Medical Research, 2021, 01(02), 001–006.
Article DOI: 10.53346/wjapmr.2021.1.2.0023
Publication history:
Received on 25 May 2021; revised on 22 July 2021; accepted on 24 July 2021
Abstract:
Aim: To assess the level of adherence of healthcare workers to workplace safety measures provided at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, Enugu Nigeria.
Method: A total of 350 health care workers of the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTTH) were used for the cross-sectional study which took place between February and August 2019. Basic information like age, sex and duration of work in the hospital were taken. Finally their levels of adherence to the safety measures provided in the hospital were assessed.
Results: The greatest number of respondents fell within the age group 26-35years (40.9%) and the gender distribution showed that 54.6% were female workers. The greatest proportion of the respondents indicated that they have worked in the hospital between 1 -5years (31.1%). Lastly assessment of adherence indicated 67.2% comply with the instructions on hand-washing.70.3% use gloves when making physical contact with patients. 50.6% claimed that they have an occupational/environmental health policy in their departments. 80.9% use bleach/disinfectants to clean up spillages and other hazardous substances. 52% have knowledge of segregation of healthcare waste. 60.3% engage in routine screening for blood-borne diseases e.g. HIV, Hepatitis B and C. while 57.3% said that they undergo routine medical checkup annually.
Conclusion: Most of the respondents were young adults 26-35years who had worked in the hospital between 1- 5years due to the fact that the teaching hospital had not been in existence for too long. Majority of the respondents (>50% in each case) have a good adherence to the safety measures i.e. hand-washing, use of disinfectants, segregation of hospital waste, and routine screening and regular medical checkups. This situation has been responsible for the maintenance of a very low rate of hospital transmitted (Nosocomial) infections in ESUT Teaching Hospital Enugu.
Keywords:
Assessment; Workplace; Safety; Adherence; Enugu; Hospital.
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