Wilburn SQ
Online journal of issues in nursing. Date of publication 2004 Sep 30;volume 9(3):5.
1. Online J Issues Nurs. 2004 Sep 30;9(3):5.
Needlestick and sharps injury prevention.
Wilburn SQ(1).
Author information:
(1)American Nurses Association. wilburn@icn.ch
Every day while caring for patients, nurses are at risk to exposure to
bloodborne pathogens potentially resulting in infections such as HIV or
hepatitis B and C. These exposures, while preventable, are often accepted as
being a part of the job. In the United States, needlestick injuries have begun
to decrease from an estimated one million exposures per year in 1996 to 385,000
per year in 2000. This decline has resulted from the protections afforded by the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogens
Standard. Reasons for the success in decreasing needlestick and sharps injuries
may be attributed to the elimination of needle recapping and the use of safer
needle devices, sharps collection boxes, gloves and personal protective gear,
and universal precautions. The prevention of needlestick injuries has made slow
progress over the past 20 years since the HIV epidemic drew attention to the
deadly nature of health care work and to protection of health care worker health
and safety. In Africa, where the AIDS virus originated and where the prevalence
of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among hospitalized patients is highest
in the world, attention has been directed only recently at protecting health
care workers. Nurses, especially those infected from a preventable exposure,
have been at the forefront of advocacy for prevention. This article includes a
review about the hazard of exposure to bloodborne pathogens and epidemiology of
occupational infection. The author discusses how to apply standard methods of
occupational health and industry hygiene using the hierarchy of controls
framework to prevent exposure to blood, and discusses evidence-based prevention
and efficacy of particular control measures. Legislative progress and
implementation of enforceable policy to protect health care workers is outlined.
PMID: 15482091 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
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