Effect of the Introduction of an Engineered Sharps Injury Prevention Device on the Percutaneous Injury Rate in Healthcare Workers

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madelyn Azar-Cavanagh ◽  
Pam Burdt ◽  
Judith Green-McKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Injury Prevention ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Injury Rate ◽  
Needlestick Injury ◽  
Hospital Policy ◽  
Bloodborne Pathogens ◽  
Safety Features ◽  
Sharps Injury ◽  
Hospital Wards

Objective.To evaluate the effect of introducing an engineered device for preventing injuries from sharp instruments (engineered sharps injury prevention device [ESIPD]) on the percutaneous injury rate in healthcare workers (HCWs).Methods.We undertook a controlled, interventional, before-after study during a period of 3 years (from January 1998 through December 2000) at a major medical center. The study population was HCWs with potential exposure to bloodborne pathogens. HCWs who sustain a needlestick injury are required by hospital policy to report the exposure. A confidential log of these injuries is maintained that includes information on the date and time of the incident, the type and brand of sharp device involved, and whether an ESIPD was used.Intervention.Introduction of an intravenous (IV) catheter stylet with a safety-engineered feature (a retractable protection shield), which was placed in clinics and hospital wards in lieu of other IV catheter devices that did not have safety features. No protective devices were present on suture needles during any of the periods. The incidence of percutaneous needlestick injury by IV catheter and suture needles was evaluated for 18 months before and 18 months after the intervention.Results.After the intervention, the incidence of percutaneous injuries resulting from IV catheters decreased significantly (P < .01), whereas the incidence of injuries resulting from suture needle injuries increased significantly (P < .008).Conclusion.ESIPDs lead to a reduction in percutaneous injuries in HCWs, helping to decrease HCWs' risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

scholarly journals Needle Stick and Sharp Injuries Among Healthcare Workers: A retrospective six-year study

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Rami Saadeh ◽  
Khaled Khairallah ◽  
Hussein Abozeid ◽  
Lama Al Rashdan ◽  
Mahmoud Alfaqih ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
National Level ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Medicine Department ◽  
Needle Stick ◽  
Job Title ◽  
Hospital Wards ◽  
And Training

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the proportion of needle stick and sharp injuries (NSSIs) among healthcare workers at King Hussein Medical Center (KHMC), Amman, Jordan. Methods: All NSSI reports referred from departments at KHMC to the Preventive Medicine Department between 2013–2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Proportion of NSSIs were calculated and stratified according to age, gender, job title, place and site of injury and the procedure/task during which the injury occurred. Results: There were a total of 393 NSSIs. A significant association was found between the proportion of NSSIs and all tested variables (P <0.001). The reported proportion of NSSIs was highest among nurses (39.7%) followed by cleaners (36.3%), physicians (10.4%), other workers (7.4%) and lab technicians (5.9%) during the study’s six-year period. Hospital wards were the most common locations (46.1%) where injuries took place. Injuries also occurred most frequently during medical waste collection (38.2%). Conclusion: The proportion of NSSIs was highest among nurses and cleaners. Safety policies and training among high-risk groups should be reviewed to reduce the risk of NSSIs. Multicentre studies at a national level should be conducted to examine whether this study’s findings reflect national trends.Keywords: Needlestick Injuries; Safety; Self Report; Nurses; Accident Prevention; Jordan.

Needlestick Injury in Hospital Personnel: A Multicenter Survey From Central Italy

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 540-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Albertoni ◽  
Giuseppe Ippolito ◽  
Nicola Petrosillo ◽  
Lorenzo Sommella ◽  
Vincenzo Di Nardo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care ◽  
Hepatitis B ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Student Nurses ◽  
Injury Rate ◽  
Needlestick Injury ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Hospital Personnel ◽  
Hospital Workers ◽  
Multicenter Survey

AbstractObjectives:To assess the rate of needlestick injury in hospital personnel in an Italian region. To identify risk factors potentially amenable to correction.Design:Hospital workers undergoing hepatitis B prevaccination testing in 1985 through 1986 were interviewed regarding needlestick injury in the previous year, job category, area of work, years of employment, and other pertinent information.Setting:Of the 98 public hospitals of the Latium region, 68 participated in the survey: 32 of 55 with less than 200 beds, 20 of 25 with 200 to 300 beds, 11 of 13 with 400 to 900 beds, and all of the 5 with more than 1,000 beds.Participants:All healthcare workers providing direct patient care or environmental services as well as student nurses were invited by the hospital directors to undergo hepatitis B prevaccination testing and vaccination, if eligible.Results:Of 30,226 hospital workers of the 68 participating hospitals, 20,055 were interviewed (66.3%): 47.7% of the 7,172 doctors, 71% of the 14,157 nurses, 55.9% of the 2,513 technicians, and 71.9% of the 6,384 ancillary workers. Needlestick injury was recalled by 29.3%; the rates were 54.9%, 35.3%, 33.8%, 26.5%, 18.7%, and 14.7% in surgeons, registered and unskilled nurses, physicians, ancillary workers, and technicians, respectively. The recalled injury rate was 39.7% and 34.0% in surgical and intensive care areas; in infectious diseases, it was 16.7%. Bates were lower in hospitals with 200 to 300 beds (25.6%). The needlestick injury rate declined from 32% in those with less than 5 years of employment to 28% in those with more than 20 years (p<.01). Prevalence of HBV infection was higher in student nurses and young workers recalling a needlestick exposure (14.3% and 15.8%, respectively), versus 10.1% and 12.8% in those not exposed (p<.01 and <.05, respectively).Conclusions:Parenteral exposure to bloodborne infectious agents is a relevant risk among healthcare workers in our region, particularly in defined job categories and hospital areas (surgeons, nurses, surgical, and intensive care areas). Immunization and educational efforts should be made along with better designs of devices to reduce the risk of infection.

A Comprehensive Approach to Percutaneous Injury Prevention During Phlebotomy: Results of a Multicenter Study, 1993-1995

2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Alvarado-Ramy ◽  
Elise M. Beltrami ◽  
Louise J. Short ◽  
Pamela U. Srivastava ◽  
Keith Henry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Injury Prevention ◽  
Healthcare Worker ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Comprehensive Approach ◽  
Injury Rates ◽  
Worker Training ◽  
Worker Satisfaction ◽  
Safety Features ◽  
Activation Rates ◽  
Sharps Injury

AbstractObjective:To examine a comprehensive approach for preventing percutaneous injuries associated with phlebotomy procedures.Design and Setting:From 1993 through 1995, personnel at 10 university-affiliated hospitals enhanced surveillance and assessed underreporting of percutaneous injuries; selected, implemented, and evaluated the efficacy of phlebotomy devices with safety features (ie, engineered sharps injury prevention devices [ESIPDs]); and assessed healthcare worker satisfaction with ESIPDs. Investigators also evaluated the preventability of a subset of percutaneous injuries and conducted an audit of sharps disposal containers to quantify activation rates for devices with safety features.Results:The three selected phlebotomy devices with safety features reduced percutaneous injury rates compared with conventional devices. Activation rates varied according to ease of use, healthcare worker preference for ESIPDs, perceived “patient adverse events,” and device-specific training.Conclusions:Device-specific features and healthcare worker training and involvement in the selection of ESIPDs affect the activation rates for ESIPDs and therefore their efficacy. The implementation of ESIPDs is a useful measure in a comprehensive program to reduce percutaneous injuries associated with phlebotomy procedures.

Use of Safety Devices and the Prevention of Percutaneous Injuries Among Healthcare Workers

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 1352-1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Valls ◽  
M. Salud Lozano ◽  
Remedios Yánez ◽  
María José Martínez ◽  
Francisco Pascual ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Direct Cost ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Injury Rate ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Safety Devices ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Finger Stick ◽  
Hospital Wards

Objective.To study the effectiveness of safety devices intended to prevent percutaneous injuries.Design.Quasi-experimental trial with before-and-after intervention evaluation.Setting.A 350-bed general hospital that has had an ongoing educational program for the prevention of percutaneous injuries since January 2002.Methods.In October 2005, we implemented a program for the use of engineered devices to prevent percutaneous injury in the emergency department and half of the hospital wards during the following procedures: intravascular catheterization, vacuum phlebotomy, blood-gas sampling, finger-stick blood sampling, and intramuscular and subcutaneous injections. The nurses in the wards that participated in the intervention received a 3-hour course on occupationally acquired bloodborne infections, and they had a 2-hour “hands-on” training session with the devices. We studied the percutaneous injury rate and the direct cost during the preintervention period (October 2004 through March 2005) and the intervention period (October 2005 through March 2006).Results.We observed a 93% reduction in the relative risk of percutaneous injuries in areas where safety devices were used (14 vs 1 percutaneous injury). Specifically, rates decreased from 18.3 injuries (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.9-43.2 injuries) to 0 injuries per 100,000 patients in the emergency department (P = .002) and from 44.0 injuries (95% CI, 20.1-83.6 injuries) to 5.2 injuries (95% CI, 0.1-28.8 injuries) per 100,000 patient-days in hospital wards (P = .007). In the control wards of the hospital (ie, those where the intervention was not implemented), rates remained stable. The direct cost increase was €0.558 (US$0,753) per patient in the emergency department and €0.636 (US$0,858) per patient-day in the hospital wards.Conclusion.Proper use of engineered devices to prevent percutaneous injury is a highly effective measure to prevent these injuries among healthcare workers. However, education and training are the keys to achieving the greatest preventative effect.

scholarly journals Erratum

AAOHN Journal ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 474-474
Keyword(s):  
Registered Nurses ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Injury Rate ◽  
Associate Professor ◽  
Needlestick Injury ◽  
Discussion Section ◽  
Injury Rates ◽  
Traumatic Injuries ◽  
Licensed Practical Nurses ◽  
Practical Nurses

To the Editor: I have just discovered an error in “Traumatic Injuries Among Medical Center Employees” (AAOHN journal 36(8):318–325, 1988), which I would like to bring to the attention of the readers of AAOHN journal. In the Discussion section on page 320 there is mention of a reduction in the reported needlestick injury rate for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and custodians. The needlestick injury rate mentioned for the earlier study (1979–1981) is incorrectly reported. The old rate should be 11.4 per 100 FTE for custodians, not 113.5. Similarly the old rates should be 12.4 per 100 FTE for registered nurses and 5.7 per 100 FTE for licensed practical nurses. We inadvertently misreported our earlier results by a factor of 10. With the above corrections made, the reported needlestick injury rates increased from 11.4 to 11.6 per 100 FTE (1.8%) for custodians, from 12.4 to 32.7 per 100 FTE (163.7%) for registered nurses, and from 5.7 to 26.5 per 100 FTE (364.9%) for licensed practical nurses. Whether this represents an increase in actual incidents among nurses or a decrease in underreporting of incidents among nurses can not be determined at this time. With all of the efforts being made to control needlestick injuries, one would assume that this is a reporting phenomenon. It does bear further watching, however. We regret the above error. John S. Neuberger, DrPH Associate Professor

scholarly journals Varicella Seroprevalence in Healthcare Workers at a Medical Center Following Changes in National and Local Hospital Vaccination Policies

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (19) ◽  
pp. 3544
Author(s):  
Meng-Ting Tsou ◽  
Hsin-Hui Shao
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Varicella Vaccine ◽  
Health Check ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Hospital Policy ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Varicella Zoster ◽  
Seroprevalence Data

Background: Varicella seroprevalence in healthcare workers at a tertiary care hospital in Taiwan was assessed following the inclusion of varicella zoster vaccination in the national vaccination schedule in 2004 and was made a hospital policy in 2008. Methods: Seroprevalence data were extracted from records of pre-employment health check-ups performed between 2008 and 2018 at a single medical center. Staff with complete medical records and anti-varicella zoster virus immunoglobulin G (VZV IgG) titers were included. Sex and age group differences in terms of geometric mean titer (GMT) were compared using analysis of variance and chi-squared tests. The significance of the correlation between age and the anti-VZV IgG titer was tested by linear regression. The odds of significant associations among age, sex, vocation, and the years of national and hospital adoption of vaccination were determined using univariate and multivariate analyses. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Of the 7314 eligible participants, 5625 (76.90%) were women, and the mean patient age was 26.80 ± 8.00 years. The lowest VZV-positivity rates were in 18–20-year-old women (85.16%; GMT, 362.89 mIU/mL) and men (87.59%; GMT, 288.07 mIU/mL). VZV positivity increased with age (p < 0.001). Participants born before 2002 were more likely to be seropositive than those born after 2003 (odds ratio, 2.51 vs. 1.0; p < 0.001). The lowest seropositive rate was found in the nursing staff (88.91%; 95% confidence interval, 87.74%–90.05%). Varicella vaccine boosters have been required at pre-employment health check-ups since 2008 if anti-VZV antibodies were not detectable. A follow-up evaluation found marginal significant differences in the odds ratios of seropositivity after 2007 (p = 0.052), especially in 2008 and 2014 (p < 0.05) after the hospital policy launched. Conclusions: Despite public health efforts, a small number of healthcare workers were inadequately protected, and antibody titers were lower than required to maintain herd immunity. For effective prevention of nosocomial infection, VZV IgG status should be documented for all HCWs, and susceptible HCWs should be vaccinated to avoid outbreaks. Pre-employment screening and vaccination have increased immunity and need to be conducted to ensure protection of vulnerable patients.

A Comprehensive Approach to Percutaneous Injury Prevention During Phlebotomy: Results of a Multicenter Study, 1993-1995

2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (02) ◽  
pp. 97-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Alvarado-Ramy ◽  
Elise M. Beltrami ◽  
Louise J. Short ◽  
Pamela U. Srivastava ◽  
Keith Henry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Injury Prevention ◽  
Healthcare Worker ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Comprehensive Approach ◽  
Injury Rates ◽  
Worker Training ◽  
Worker Satisfaction ◽  
Safety Features ◽  
Activation Rates ◽  
Sharps Injury

Abstract Objective: To examine a comprehensive approach for preventing percutaneous injuries associated with phlebotomy procedures. Design and Setting: From 1993 through 1995, personnel at 10 university-affiliated hospitals enhanced surveillance and assessed underreporting of percutaneous injuries; selected, implemented, and evaluated the efficacy of phlebotomy devices with safety features (ie, engineered sharps injury prevention devices [ESIPDs]); and assessed healthcare worker satisfaction with ESIPDs. Investigators also evaluated the preventability of a subset of percutaneous injuries and conducted an audit of sharps disposal containers to quantify activation rates for devices with safety features. Results: The three selected phlebotomy devices with safety features reduced percutaneous injury rates compared with conventional devices. Activation rates varied according to ease of use, healthcare worker preference for ESIPDs, perceived “patient adverse events,” and device-specific training. Conclusions: Device-specific features and healthcare worker training and involvement in the selection of ESIPDs affect the activation rates for ESIPDs and therefore their efficacy. The implementation of ESIPDs is a useful measure in a comprehensive program to reduce percutaneous injuries associated with phlebotomy procedures.

Study of sharp injuries and blood splash exposures among healthcare workers in a tertiary hospital in Bangalore

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shalini Sivananjiah Pradeep ◽  
Suman Gadicherla Raghu ◽  
Prathab A G ◽  
Banashankari G Rudresh ◽  
Radhika Kunnavil
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Tertiary Hospital ◽  
Post Exposure Prophylaxis ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Post Exposure ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Management Procedures ◽  
Exposure Prophylaxis ◽  
Sharps Injury ◽  
Sharps Injuries

The working environment of healthcare workers (HCW) exposes them to sharp injuries. This communication attempts to examine the injury registers, incidence of sharps injuries and blood splash exposures, and the post-exposure prophylaxis status of employees in a tertiary care hospital. Analysis included records form 54 locations of two units of a tertiary hospital attached to a Medical College. Maintenance of the injury register overall was highly satisfactory in both units. Two hundred and nine injuries were recorded from both units of the hospital. The majority of injuries (60.5%) occurred in the age group of 20-30 years with 70% among females. Waste handlers were at increased risk during waste management procedures. Thirty two percent of sharps injury injuries occurred in wards. Of the ward nursing staff, 25.3% received sharps injuries. Post-exposure prophylaxis for Hepatitis B (primary dose) was given to 25 HCWs; 11 received booster doses. The basic regimen for HIV post-exposure prophylaxis was given to 4 HCWs. Awareness about records maintenance, regular documentation, awareness and training, and implementation of appropriate preventive measures can reduce the incidence of injuries. Key words: Sharps, injury register, Health care workers (HCW),Post exposure prophylaxis (PEP)

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