Will you pledge to stop needlesticks?
Will you pledge to stop needlesticks?
Safe in Common seeks new momentum
Would you take a pledge to raise awareness about sharps injuries and use safer devices? A new coalition called Safe in Common is traversing the country, seeking signed pledges as a way to jumpstart a renewed commitment to sharps injury prevention.
"There needs to be an energized national campaign to refocus the conversation and to close the gap," says Mary Foley, RN, PhD, past president of the American Nurses Association and chairperson of Safe in Common. "Let's celebrate what we did 12 years ago and recognize that the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act was a very good thing for this country.
"Yet there are still injuries," she says. "Not all sectors of health care are equally protected. Because of that, the work shouldn't end. We should do a structured scientific analysis of where the gaps exist and keep pushing forward."
Foley is particularly concerned about employers' failure to move beyond the initial push for sharps safety. Those first devices provided much-needed protection, but newer devices are even more effective, she says. Specifically, she promotes "passive" devices that are activated through the natural use of the device rather than "semi-safe" devices that require activation and could remain hazardous.
"Let's refresh what's out there in the field. Give health care workers a new look at newer products across the line, in every area," says Foley, who is director of the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing.
Nurses are relieved to hear someone putting needlestick safety back on the national agenda, says Foley. "We're getting thousands and thousands of pledges. People are embracing the notion that somebody's talking about this again," she says.
Safe in Common is also collecting stories from nurses who have sustained a needlestick. She wants employers and health care workers alike to understand the cost of a needlestick – both financially and emotionally. "If activities don't have a consequence, then they don't have priority," she says.
Nurses like Karen Daley, current president to ANA, came forward years ago to tell their stories of needlesticks that led to life-threatening infection. Although the risk has been reduced with safer devices and HIV treatment, Foley wants nurses to know that the hazard persists.
"I know for a fact that there have been individuals who have been infected subsequent to 2000," she says. "I know there are anecdotal stories out there that would convince people that the problem still exists. I hope to find somebody who is willing to have their story told."
Safe in Common also plans to launch webinars about sharps safety. "It is the informed user that will be a safer user," she says.
[Editor's note: More information about the Safe in Common campaign, including the pledge, is available at www.safeincommon.org.]
The Safe in Common Pledge:
I pledge to support Safe in Common in its campaign to promote and strengthen the Federal Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, raise awareness of needlestick safety, and utilize safer engineering controls to protect me and my fellow healthcare personnel from unnecessary needlestick injuries.
Would you take a pledge to raise awareness about sharps injuries and use safer devices? A new coalition called Safe in Common is traversing the country, seeking signed pledges as a way to jumpstart a renewed commitment to sharps injury prevention.Subscribe Now for Access
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