INO symposiumUp to one million needle-stick injuries are suffered by healthcare workers in Europe every year, placing those injured at risk of contracting hepatitis, HIV and other blood borne infections.
The figures were presented at a symposium organised by the Irish Nurses Organisation in Dublin yesterday which was attended by the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Mr David Byrne.
Mr Byrne was urged to take "urgent and concrete steps" at EU level to protect healthcare workers from the potentially fatal infections that can result from needles and other sharp objects.
The president of the Standing Committee of Nurses of the EU, Ms Ria von Bonninghausen, presented Mr Byrne with a document outlining the extent of needle-stick injuries across the EU. It said the majority of sharps injuries are suffered by nurses and occur in patient rooms and the operating theatre, but doctors and other medical staff, as well as porters and cleaners, can also be at risk.
"In an average hospital, workers incur approximately 12 to 30 needle-stick injuries per 100 beds each year. However, it is estimated that between 60 and 80 per cent of incidents go unreported. If suffering an injury from a contaminated sharp, the risk of transmission of infections is 1 in 3 workers for hepatitis B, 1 in 30 for hepatitis C and 1 in 300 for HIV," it said.
"It needs to be recognised that the risk of sharps injuries may be a strong disincentive to taking up a medical career and may increase the scarcity of experienced medical staff," it added.
Mr Byrne said it was primarily an issue for each individual member-state to ensure they had measures in place to protect workers from needle-stick injuries.
Mr Byrne was also presented with good practice guidelines for international nurse recruitment. Ms Annette Kennedy, director of professional development with the INO, said nursing shortages were critical across several EU member-states and beyond. It meant the EU, America, Canada and Australia were competing against each other for nurses and there was a danger countries offering better pay would attract the most experienced nurses from poorer countries.
"These nurses may not return and the health service of that country may suffer as a result. It is imperative that all countries seek to address the reasons that created the shortage in the first place," she said.
Mr Byrne told the meeting the shortage of health professionals in EU member-states would be compounded in coming years by the fact that the health workforce was ageing.
"Between 1995 and 2000, the number of physicians under the age of 45 across Europe dropped by 20 per cent, whilst the number aged over 45 went up by over 50 per cent. For nurses as well, average ages are rising. In five member-states nearly half of nurses are aged over 45," he said.