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WellbeingOccupational Health

OH must help ease nurse fears of contracting HIV or hepatitis

by Personnel Today 1 Oct 2005
by Personnel Today 1 Oct 2005

Nearly half of NHS nurses live in fear of contracting HIV or hepatitis at work because of injuries from needles or other sharp instruments, with one in five worrying about it daily, an RCN survey has revealed.

The Royal College of Nursing has also warned that, once nurses are injured, they face a postcode lottery when it comes to getting support, with some hospitals operating very good procedures while others are less well prepared.

The Suffering in Silence survey found that 41% of more than 500 hospital and primary care nurses polled said contracting HIV or hepatitis was their greatest workplace fear.

OH nurses needed to focus on preventative measures as much dealing with incidents, suggested Sheelagh Brewer, RCN senior employment relations adviser.

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“There is still a great deal of under-reporting of needlestick injuries. OH could be looking at systems whereby it is collecting enough information to know where the problems are,” she said.

About 100,000 healthcare workers are estimated to suffer needlestick injuries in the UK each year, and at least five cases of such workers contracting HIV as a result have been recorded.


Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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