Nursing staff knowledge and attitudes about safe device catheters in a Brazilian hospital

Objective: describing the knowledge and attitudes of nursing professionals regarding a Safe Device with Engineered Controls. Methods: cross-sectional descriptive study, carried out in a Brazilian general hospital, specialized in the treatment of HIV/aids. Nursing professionals were interviewed from May to July 2015. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: from the 180 interviewees, 72.2% did not participate in any training that offered knowledge about the use of the catheter with a safety device. Regarding the risk attitudes, reinserting the same peripheral catheter before activating the needle protection, in more than one puncture, in the same patient, was mentioned as a routine practice by 48 (26.7%) participants. Conclusion: most nursing professionals did not receive training in the use of the devices but could recognize characteristics and mechanisms of protection against needle punctures and contact with blood.