Occupational Exposure to HIV and How Health Workers Cope with It at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Occupational exposure to HIV by health workers is a major issue globally. It is more prevalent in the low-income countries especially, in the Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Yet it seems that there is very little information on occupational exposure to HIV by health workers and how they cope in Ghana. The study explored the occupational exposure to HIV and how health workers cope with it. The exploratory descriptive qualitative research design was used to explore and describe the occupational exposure to HIV and coping strategies of health workers. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to recruit study participants. A sample size of 12 participants was used for the study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. Data were analysed using the Miles and Huberman’s approach to content analysis. The key findings of the study were that all the health workers occupationally exposed to HIV experienced fear and anxiety. The main causes of occupational HIV exposure were improper disposal of sharps, recapping of used needles and lack of protective clothing. Health workers exposed to HIV experience stress as a result of the fear of being infected with HIV and the side effects of post-exposure prophylaxis. The challenges faced by health workers occupationally exposed to HIV consist of care lapses, side effects of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and lack of support at the workplace after the exposure. These challenges led to under-reporting and non-adherence to the PEP. The effects of the HIV occupational exposure on the health workers consisted of the side effects of the PEP, anxiety, empathy for people living with HIV, increased sense of caution and deterioration in interpersonal relationships with patients, friends, and co-workers. The coping strategies used by the health workers included caring for the site of exposure, reporting HIV exposure, testing for HIV status of the source, adhering to the PEP, anger, guilt, crying, praying, blaming, and denial. The study revealed that health workers coped well with social support from family, friends, and co-workers. Some health workers felt that their health facilities could have done more to support them. It is recommended that standard precaution is enforced. It should be ensured that health workers exposed to HIV received adequate social support, counselling, the source of exposure should be tested for HIV and training on effective coping for all health workers.