Sharps In Health Care Research Paper

In the workplace employees need to put these safe ways of working into practice; for example by effective hand washing, not

5.3 PPE is used to protect the person using it from contamination and from others coming in to contact with infection. PPE in a social care setting is used for the purpose it is intended and then thrown away to avoid any cross contamination

Procedures for sanitation management; all countertops bust be cleaned all the time from boxes, bottles and paper. Washing your hands is a requirement for all personal in the healthcare profession. Using PPE (Personal protective equipment) help keep personal in the pharmacy (and healthcare industry) protected against infection and spread. PPE include gloves, masks, and

The use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), like plastic aprons, gloves footwear when handling contaminated items, including items contaminated with body fluids, and disposing of waste,

Sharps injuries (mainly needlestick), carry the risk of serious infections. Healthcare providers are exposed to these dangerous and prospectively life-threatening infections. Ideally, most needlestick injuries together with other sharps injuries remain preventable. Sharps injuries remain an important area of study since it affects a large number of healthcare providers. For instance, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 385,000 needlesticks injuries take place yearly and hospital-based

Abstract: Attention has been brought to the public knowing about employee health care workers have been exposed to needle stick and sharp object injuries, but there is little knowledge and attention among medical students. Medical students volunteered to take a survey to help determine the frequency of these injuries that occur. There were one-hundred six students out of one-hundred seven students that responded to the survey. Out of those students, thirty-three percent of the students reported that they have had one or more injuries due to sharp objects or being stuck by a needle. There were

Procedures and systems relevant to the prevention and control of infection are following companies’ policies and procedures which relate to correct hand washing procedure, wearing correct PPE for example gloves, aprons and protective clothing, the correct disposal of waste and using the correct cleaning equipment when cleaning spillages, surfaces, equipment, etc.

* Personal Protective Equipment reduces, but does not completely eliminate the risk of acquiring or spreading an infection. It is important that it is used effectively and correctly. And at all times where contact with blood and body fluids of patients may occur.

Sharps injuries (mainly needlestick), carry the risk of serious infections. Healthcare providers are exposed to dangerous and potentially life-threatening infections. Most needlestick injuries together with other sharps injuries remain largely preventable. Sharps injuries remain an important area of study since it affects a large number of healthcare providers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 385,000 needlesticks injuries occur yearly in hospital-based environment’s (Wilburn, 2004). The utilization of an apparatus with safety made protective attributes, mandated in the United States in year 2000 has been led to decreased rates of needlestick injuries (Battles, Keyes & Grady, 2008). However, Australia remains the only nation with well developed infection prevention and control systems

All PPE should be worn only during patient care while in the patient’s room. Once you leave the patients area or room you should disposed of all pieces in the trash.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) – actual work wear to manage risks. For e.g. gloves and face masks when patient is ill

I have been a Registered Nurse in the Candler Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for 3 ½ years and I cannot recall how many times I have had to don personal protective equipment (PPE) for contact isolation status with my patients, but I can tell you that it seems like it’s required more than it is not. I have seen isolation status for the popular Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the nares, Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) in the urine, the awful Acinetobacter with chronic ventilated patients, and more. Happening more frequently in the ICU is Clostridium difficile (C. diff).

The Thomas Research Cancer Center will protect employees from blood-borne pathogens such as AIDS by providing the necessary training and education, providing equipment needed such as disposable latex or latex free gloves, personal protective equipment (PPE), and resuscitation equipment if needed to avoid mouth-to-mouth contact. Sharp containers will be easily assessable for disposal of all sharps (needles) and bio-hazard boxes for all other contaminated materials (McKinnon, 2012).

Relating back to my previous work I noted that it was essential that nurses wore aprons during patient care, ensuring that they discarded of them after patient contact. Not only does wearing an apron act as a barrier it is also recognised as a type of PPC (Personal protective clothing). Cadlin J, Stark S (2005) suggests that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) (1991, 1992) says “Health and Safety Regulations require that all healthcare employees are provided with personal protective clothing”. However McCullough (1998) suggests that nurses’ uniforms are not considered protective clothing and that protection within the NHS is provided by the use of disposable aprons. Surprisingly some healthcare workers and qualified nurses were not discarding aprons after patient contact, not only is this bad practice but it increases the risk of cross infection between patients. Babb et al (1983) within Candlin J, Stark S (2005) article found that “although micro-organisms can survive for varying lengths of time and adhere to plastic aprons, they do not multiply and are difficult to redistribute”.

Education programs created for health care professionals about sharps safety teaches people about various workplace settings where sharps injuries take place. According to the Health Protection Agency (2008), sharp injuries occur during use of sharps, after use but before disposal, between steps in procedures, during disposal, and while recapping needles. In developing nations, where sharp injures are more prevalent, the causes may be linked to lack of knowledge, lack of training, and reusable designs of sharp devices (Duesman & Duncan, 2012). Consequently, education programs serve the purpose to identify the situations in which injury occurs and to identify methods to reduce these injuries.