[Accidents with cutting and piercing materials among nursing professionals at a university hospital]

The occupational hazards to which nursing professionals are subject while performing their duties are considerable. This study aims to analyze accidents with cutting and piercing instruments involving the nursing team of a university hospital that occurred between 2002 and 2006 in order to understand the context in which they happened. The use of such information can be a prevention tool. This is a descriptive, retrospective, quantitative and qualitative study. Descriptive statistics were used for quantitative analysis and collective subject discourse was used for qualitative observation. By using report forms from the hospital's Epidemiological Surveillance Center, it was possible to identify a typology of accidents occurred in the studied period. Interviews were targeted at accident victims who had patients with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis B and C as source patients. The findings show that a significant lack of knowledge and banalization of accidents still persist among health care professionals.