The Attitude of Healthcare Workers to Safe use of Medical Instruments in a Training and Research Hospital

• Main Authors: Filiz Özyiğit, Ayşegül Küçük, Özlem Altuntaş, İnci Arıkan, Hayat Kumbasar, Sibel Fener, Birgül Kahraman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Galenos Yayinevi 2014-09-01
• Series: Haseki Tıp Bülteni
• Subjects: Medical instruments; scales; attitude; healthcare workers
• Online Access: http://www.hasekidergisi.com/article_7271/The-Attitude-Of-Healthcare-Workers-To-Safe-Use-Of-Medical-Instruments-In-A-Training-And-Research-Hospital

Aim: In this study, we aimed to investigate the attitudes of healthcare workers to safe use of medical instruments. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on healthcare professionals working in Haseki Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul. Necessary permissions have been obtained from the hospital administrator. There have been 1135 health care workers in this hospital (243 doctors, 442 nurses, 450 cleaning staff), but 539 of them volunteered to participate in the study. We used the Scale of the Attitude of Healthcare Workers to Safe Use of Sharp Instruments developed by Uzunbayır et al. (Cronbach’s alpha=0.80). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 21.0 and data were analyzed using the t-test and ANOVA. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: 17.1% of participants were doctors, 58.4% - nurses, 24.5% - cleaning staff and 43.8% of subjects were working in a surgical department. 25.8% of participants had at least 5 years of working experience in this field. There were no significant differences between the occupational groups in cognition (p=0.810) and affect scores (p=0.401). It was found that the behavioral scores in nurses were higher than in doctors and cleaning staff (p=0.000). Conclusion: The total score was found to be higher in nurses as well as in participants working in a surgical department and those having at least 5 years of professional experience. It was determined that these groups used the medical instruments more safely than did the other ones. (The Me­di­cal Bul­le­tin of Ha­se­ki 2014; 52:168-71)