Determining the relationship between mental workload, cognitive failures, and needlestick injuries among nurses at...

Public health and improving the working conditions of people working in hospitals is very important because the health of nurses will have a significant impact on community health. Mental workload is a fundamental concept in the job. Therefore, it is very important to know the relation between mental workload and human performance, especially in nurses. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between workload with cognitive failures and needle sticks in nurses of Alzahra Hospital in Isfahan.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 245 nurses who worked in Al-Zahra Hospital in Isfahan. For collecting data, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), the Cognitive Failure questionnaire (CFQ), and accidental needle stick injuries questionnaire were used. Data were collected and analyzed by using SPSS.

The mean ± SD of the age of the participants was 35.85 ± 7.15 years. There is a significant relationship between the demographic variables and the frequency of needle stick (P.value < 0.05). The mean of workload among the nurses was 81.75 ± 9.8. In addition, the mean of cognitive failure was 63.46 ± 7.92. The correlation between workload and cognitive failure was not significant (R = -0.017, P.value > 0.05). There is a significant difference between the workload mean (P.value < 0.05) and no significant difference between the cognitive failure mean (P.value > 0.05) in the two groups with needle stick experience and without needle stick experience.

Needlestick is one of the most common accidents that usually occurs among health workers. Many factors affect the occurrence of these injuries. High mental workload can cause accidents and injuries by affecting the cognitive abilities of nurses. Therefore, it is important to manage the work schedule, training, supervision, as well as complying with safety and health procedures and standards in this occupational group.