Michael Sinnott, MBBS, FACEM, FRACP: No financial relationships to disclose
Background: Hospitals carry injury and infection risks to both patients and staff. While clinicians often prioritise their patient’s safety above their own, it is the role of Infection Preventionists (IPs) to mitigate risks to both patients and staff.
Sharps injuries present a significant occupational risk to healthcare workers, with an estimated 385,000 sharp injuries occurring in US hospitals each year. A 2011 study found that sharps injuries in the US were decreasing outside of surgical settings, but increasing inside Operating Rooms (ORs).
As sharps risk assessments and prevention strategies are informed by the number of sharps injury reports, this study examined whether further data could provide more accurate incidence rates of injury per device used.
Methods: This study was conducted at a tertiary referral adult hospital in Australia, which has 900 beds and 20,000 surgeries annually.
Three years of the hospital’s data was collated from two databases; the infection control department’s database with documented sharps injuries from scalpel blades, syringe needles and suture needles, and The Finance and Materials Management Information System database with device purchasing data.
Results: Over the three-year period, 279 sharps injuries were reported in the hospital: 25 injuries caused by scalpel blades, 130 caused by syringe needles and 124 caused by suture needles. Adjusting for the number of devices purchased, the rates of injuries when using scalpels and suture needles were five times and 15 times higher than for syringe needles.
Conclusions: The higher incidence of sharps injuries from suture needles and scalpel blades, used most often in ORs, compared to syringe needles, implies that further sharps prevention strategies may be needed in ORs.
Purchasing data provides IPs with a simple and accurate source of information to improve risk assessments for staff safety hazards such as sharps, which is vital to designing and implementing effective prevention strategies.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the incidence rates of sharps injuries in the USA and Australia, both in surgical and non-surgical settings.
Apply purchasing data to determine incidence of injuries per device, to improve occupational hazard risk assessments.
List further prevention strategies for the Operating Room to prevent sharps injuries from suture needles and scalpel blades.
