Reducing needlesticks and blood exposure: tracking, training, technology

Healthcare workers--especially nurses and phlebotomists who routinely use needles to draw blood and start intravenous catheters--are susceptible to injuries from cuts from sharp objects like needlesticks, of which about one million injuries are reported annually. Through such injuries, workers risk infection (the average infection risk from injuries is 1 in 300) with deadly diseases such as Hepatitis B or C, or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In addition, hospital security officers continue to face risks from exposure to blood and body fluids, usually when called on to deal with violent or potentially violent ER patients. In this report, we will focus on new ways that have been developed to track these healthcare risks, proactive and reactive programs being instituted by several hospitals to deal with needlesticks, and the latest devices developed by manufacturers to prevent or reduce their occurrences.