[Viral Infections Among the Nursing Personnel - a Survey].
OBJECTIVE
Healthcare workers (HCW) are at risk of occupational infections and can also transmit diseases to patients. The acceptance of measures to improve safety is linked to knowledge and risk awareness of HCW. The purpose of our study was to ascertain the knowledge and risk awareness of nursing staff regarding occupational infections and vaccinations as well as the frequency of needlestick injuries (NSI) in relation to the level of education.


METHODS
In the context of a conference on nursing, an anonymous questionnaire was distributed to the participants.


CONCLUSIONS
Nursing staff had insufficient knowledge of viral occupational infections with regard to the actual hazard. At the same time, more than 60 % of the respondents rated the probability of contracting occupational infections as "pretty high" to "very high". In addition, 62.1 % of the study participants also stated that they did not feel sufficiently trained to care for patients with highly contagious or rare infectious diseases. Intensified training and awareness programs for nursing personnel are required to increase the knowledge of occupational infections.
Betriebsärztlicher Dienst, Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt.
S
S
Wicker
Institut für Medizinische Virologie, Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt.
H F
HF
Rabenau
B. Braun Melsungen.
A
A
Schachtrupp
Institut für Pflegeentwicklung und Nursing Research, Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt.
R
R
Schalk
D005858:Germany; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D016602:Needlestick Injuries; D009740:Nursing Staff; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000635:transmission