Question

Nursing research is used to study a dilemma or a problem in nursing. Examine a problem you have seen in nursing. Provide an overview of the problem and discuss why the problem should be studied. Provide rational and support for your answer.

Answer 1

WORK PLACE HAZARDS FOR NURSES

Everyday the nurses are facing many more hazards while working. As they exposure to the blood pathogens, infectious and contagious disease, radiations, chemicals. They may have allergic to latex, some chemicals which may cause serious consequences. The falls, slips and injury also common among working nurses.

i)Exposure to blood borne pathogen

The nurses are exposure to blood born pathogen due to needle stick injury, contact with body fluids, splashes. Even though awareness regarding universal precautions like gowning, gloving, masking, following of proper hand washing technique has increased compared to oldern days, still is occurrence of exposure of blood born pathogen among nurses are there.

According to the center for disease control and prevention there is 600000 to 800000 health care workers exposure to blood born pathogens annually. Among nurses are majority of them.

Problem

Occurrence of problem due to the following reasons

• The nurses are everyday work with many hazardous blood borne pathogens especially HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C etc. As a nurse or health care professionals we have to treat every patient as a infectious one. But it is not possible to wear protective barriers always. The stock to be maintain is very toughest task. In case of emergency as a nurse we think about patient, not go for searching and wear gloves, mask or any protective barriers.
• It is legal one if a patient found as a HIV patient to denote it on his case sheet. It is toughest to identify by the nurses unless another person give proper handover
• Many nurses should not report after exposure to blood borne pathogens as they have lack of awareness regarding it or otherwise fear about the side effect of post exposure prophylactic drugs and to attend the inquiry.
• Eventhough the nurses wear proper protective barriers, the penetrating needles will tear the gloves and make injury.

ii) Hand washing related dermatitis

The nurses have to wash their hands before touching patient, before starting any procedure, at the end of procedure, exposure to blood or any other body fluids, before and after eating, before and after toileting, after coughing, sneezing, sniffing etc for the aspect of prevention of infection. Frequent washing of hands leads to dermatitis among nurses.

According to the study result of University of Manchester there is 4.5 times increased chance of getting moderate to severe skin damage among health care workers.

Causes

The component of hand washing solution tend to allergy for skin

Frequency interval of hand washing

Exposure time of water

Nature of water