Cost is deterrent for prevention devices
According to the Washington, DC-based American Nurses Association (ANA), many hospitals choose not to use available safety devices because they are more expensive than standard needles.
Becky Pierce, RN, acting director for critical care services at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, estimates that switching to a needleless system costs the 350-bed facility $250,000 per year. She estimates that the annual cost to the ED is about $30,000. "Cost is definitely a concern for hospitals," she says.
But if you’re not using safer needle devices, your ED is out of compliance, warns Karen Daley, RN, MPH, president of the Canton-based Massachusetts Nurses Association. "Many employers have been slow to change over to safer devices," she says.
Daley points to a 1999 ANA statistic, which estimates that only about 15% of hospitals used safer devices. "That’s despite the fact that these devices have been available for over 30 years, and the designs are improving all the time," she stresses.1
The higher cost of safer devices is one reason many hospitals have been unwilling to adopt them, says Daley. "As the industry switches over, their cost will come down to approximately what is being spent now on the conventional/unsafe devices," she predicts.
Meanwhile, unnecessary injuries are still occurring, Daley stresses. "Employers have been willing to allow over 600,000 of these injuries to occur a year," she says. "We know over 80% of them could be prevented through appropriate use of these devices."
The cost of follow-up for these injuries averages $2,000 to $3,000 per employee, says Daley. "That’s not including the cost of caring for one infected health care worker, which can approximate $500,000 to $1 million over the course of 15 years," she adds.
Reference
1. "The Needlestick Prevention Act of 1999." American Nurses Association testimony before the Committee on Human Services, District of Columbia City Council. May 31, 2000.
Source
For more information on the cost of needlestick prevention devices, contact: Becky Pierce, RN, Harborview Medical Center, Critical Care Services, 325 Ninth Ave., Seattle, WA 98104. Telephone: (206) 731-6803. Fax: (206) 731-8662. E-mail: [email protected].
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content