Occupational accidents among nursing professionals in a home care service in the state of São Paulo

Abstract

This is a cross-sectional study whose objective is to identify and describe accidents with biological material as told by nursing professionals in a home care service in a city in the state of São Paulo. Of the 30 subjects who provided that service in the data collection period, 28 agreed to participate and 12 (42.8%) claimed to have suffered at least one accident with biological material while carrying out professional procedures for that service. Most of the exposures were percutaneous (91.7%) and blood was the most often involved fluid (75%). Regarding procedures, 75% of the individuals were administering drugs when the accident happened and 50% admitted that they were recapping hollow needles. The current study enabled the identification of situations described by the professionals and which led to the occurrence of accidents with biological material during home care. These findings can support preventive measures and guide future studies that involve this type of accident at homes.