The experience and psychological impact of a sharps injury on a nursing student population in the UK

<jats:sec><jats:title>Aims:</jats:title><jats:p> The aims of this study were to explore the experience and psychological impact of sustaining a sharps injury within a nursing student population in the UK. Design: A qualitative approach was taken, using two methods to gather data, namely a Twitter chat and interviews. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods:</jats:title><jats:p> A Twitter chat was orchestrated to investigate the experiences of sharps injury with nursing students and registered nurses nationwide (n=71). Interviews were conducted with nursing students from a university in the UK who had sustained a sharps injury (n=12) to discover their experiences and the impact of the injury. Findings were then synthesised and examined. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results:</jats:title><jats:p> Some nursing students reported psychological impacts after sustaining the sharps injury, which affected both their professional and personal life. The qualitative findings were synthesised into eight themes. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion:</jats:title><jats:p> Sharps injuries can have many psychological impacts on the individual nursing student and necessary support should be available. </jats:p></jats:sec>