Knowledge and practice of preventive measures for occupational health hazards among nurses working in a teaching hospital in Enugu

Occupational hazard preventive measures are important practices because of the high rates of associated morbidity and mortality of exposed workers and include actions that can be taken to reduce the potential of exposure to the hazard. This study assessed the knowledge and practice of preventive measures of occupational health hazards among nurses working in Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH), Parklane Enugu. This study used a descriptive cross-sectional survey design to collect data through a researcher-developed questionnaire. Utilizing the purposeful sampling technique, 214 nurses working in ESUTH, Parklane, completed the survey. A total of 214 questionnaires were filled and returned (response rate = 93.9%). A good level of knowledge (91.6%) on occupational hazard preventive measures was most evident among the respondents. There was also an associated good level of implementation of occupational hazard preventive measures among the respondents with a grand mean of 3.08±1.28. The factors found to influence the implementation of occupational hazard preventive measures among the respondents include the inadequate provision of PPE (3.47±0.58), poor attitudes of government towards workers’ working conditions (3.44±0.63), and lack of adequate staff training (2.93±0.41). Overall, the findings show that Nurses working in ESUTH showed good knowledge and practice of preventive measures of occupational health hazards. In terms of reducing hazards among Nurses in the wards, and in the hospitals, we recommend that risk assessment should be carried out regularly to identify potential hazards at a safe stage.