The effective needle stick injury prevention strategies for nursing students in the clinical settings: a literature review

Objective: Nursing students are prone to needle stick injuries (NSIs) during their practice in the hospitals. This study aimed to identify the effective NSI prevention strategies for nursing students in the clinical settings. Method: Literature review was performed using the databases of ScienceDirect, ProQuest, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, CINAHL, SpringerLink, JSTOR, and PubMed. The search terms of “nursing students” “NSI incidents” “prevention” and “clinical settings” were entered, generating 103 articles published between 1991 and 2015. Results: Our study demonstrated the high rates of NSIs in low- and middle (India, 91.85%). and high-income countries (Taiwan, 56.00%). Most injuries especially occurred when students opening the ampules (53.15%) and performing intravenous cannulation (44.50%). Our review identified four main strategies to prevent NSIs; education, trainings, safe needle use, and effective communication. Our study suggested the development of education and trainings curriculum and self- report system and culture, the provision of financial, material and manpower resources to support the prevention of NSIs. Conclusions: four main strategies to prevent NSIs were education, trainings, safe needle use and effective communication. Implications for practice: collaboration of hospitals and educational institutions is essential to develop effective NSI prevention programs.