Nursing2004 needle-stick and sharps-safety survey: Getting to the point about preventable injuries

In the April issue of Nursing2004, we published an extensive report of results to our needlestick survey. The number of respondents to each question, which varied widely, is shown below to give a more complete picture of the results.

1. How many sharps injuries have you sustained in the last year? (total number responding = 498)

2. If you sustained one or more sharps injuries in the last year, answer questions 2a through 2f in relation to your most recent injury .

2a. Your most recent injury was caused by a device used for: (total number responding = 112)

2b. Did the sharps device have a safety design (for example, a shielded, recessed, retractable, or blunted needle or blade)? (total number responding = 111)

2c. Did the injury occur (total number responding = 112)

2d. Did you report your most recent injury to your institution? (total number responding = 105)

2e. If the sharps device had been used on a patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), did you receive postexposure prophylaxis (PEP)? (total number responding = 52)

2f. If you received PEP, did you miss any work because of adverse reactions related to the drugs? (total number responding = 6)

3. To the best of your recollection, what percentage of needles or sharps that you used in the past year was safety-engineered (for example, shielded, recessed, retractable, or blunted needles or blades)? (total number responding = 489)

4. Which of the following best describes the extent to which your institution provides safety-engineered sharps devices? (total number responding = 493)

5. How do you rate the training you received for the safety-engineered sharps devices you use in your practice? (total number responding = 491; number of hospital-based respondents = 285; number of home health care respondents = 37)

6. What's your opinion of safety-engineered needles and sharps devices? (total number responding = 489)

7. Are non-safety-engineered (conventional) sharps devices still readily available in your institution? (total number responding = 490)

8. Does your institution solicit input from nurses who care for patients in selecting safety-engineered devices? (total number responding = 490)

9. Do you feel your institution is committed to providing a safe working environment in terms of sharps safety? (total number responding = 487)

10a. Does your facility maintain a sharps injury log? (total number responding = 489)

10b. If yes, does your facility regularly share sharps injury data and information on recent sharps injuries for education and injury prevention? (total number responding = 226)

11. What kinds of sharps injury training and protocols does your institution provide? (total number responding = 482)

12. Would you say that implementation of safety devices has made your institution: (total number responding = 490)

13. If you were considering accepting a new job at a health care facility, would the potential employer's sharps-safety record and its policy regarding use of safety devices in that facility be significant factors in your decision? (number responding = 485)