Why do HCWs get stuck more than once?
OR is the source of multiple sticks
The operating room (OR) presents the greatest risk of multiple needlestick injuries, according to a study at BJC Healthcare in St. Louis.
In a five-year period from 1997 to 2001, 2,523 health care workers reported sharps injuries at the system’s eight hospitals. Of those, 390, or 15%, reported more than one such injury.
Those injured more than once were more likely to work in the OR or to be physicians in training, says Hilary Babcock, MD, instructor in medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and lead author of the study.
"Suture needles were the most common item being used among people injured more than once," she says. "If you’re in the OR, you spend much more time at risk with those devices. It’s not surprising that’s a high-risk area."
Babcock expected to find that the risk increased with greater exposure — that those who worked in the OR for a longer period would report more needlesticks. However, that pattern didn’t show up in the data. Instead, those reporting multiple needlesticks were younger at the time of the first injury and reported their first needlestick on average just 18 months after hire.
That may reflect better reporting by physicians in training of younger workers, Babcock notes. "We don’t really know whether the people who report more than one are just more compliant reporters," she says. "Maybe the younger workers have less experience in the system, have gotten more information about post-exposure prophylaxis, and just report more."
The data on multiple needlesticks provide evidence to support renewed efforts to implement safer devices, Babcock says. Surgeons have been resistant to the use of blunt suture needles, she says.
Armed with this new data, Babcock and her colleagues plan to address the OR risks. "When trying to make these changes, it’s important to have a team that involves the people you’re targeting," she says. "If you can get a surgeon on the staff to help make decisions about how things should be implemented, that makes acceptance of any changes much more promising."
The operating room (OR) presents the greatest risk of multiple needlestick injuries, according to a study at BJC Healthcare in St. Louis.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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