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The Impact of Multifocused Interventions on Sharps Injury Rates at an Acute-Care Hospital

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Robyn R.M. Gershon ,
Lisa Pearse ,
Martha Grimes ,
Patricia A. Flanagan  and
David Vlahov
Robyn R.M. Gershon*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
Lisa Pearse
Affiliation:
William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas
Martha Grimes
Affiliation:
Department of Infection Control, Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring, Maryland
Patricia A. Flanagan
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
David Vlahov
Affiliation:
New York Academy of Medicine, New York City, New York
*
The Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Room 8503, Baltimore, MD 21205
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Abstract

Objective:

To determine the impact of a multifocused interventional program on sharps injury rates.

Design:

Sharps injury data were collected prospectively over a 9-year period (1990-1998). Pre- and postinterventional rates were compared after the implementation of sharps injury prevention interventions, which consisted of administrative, work-practice, and engineering controls (ie, the introduction of an anti-needlestick intravenous catheter and a new sharps disposal system).

Setting:

Sharps injury data were collected from healthcare workers employed by a mid-sized, acute-care community hospital.

Results:

Preinterventional annual sharps injury incidence rates decreased significantly from 82 sharps injuries/1,000 worked full-time-equivalent employees (WFTE) to 24 sharps injuries/1,000 WFTE employees postintervention (P<.0001), representing a 70% decline in incidence rate overall. Over the course of the study, the incidence rate for sharps injuries related to intravenous lines declined by 93%, hollow-bore needlesticks decreased by 75%, and non-hollow-bore injuries decreased by 25%.

Conclusion:

The implementation of a multifocused interventional program led to a significant and sustained decrease in the overall rate of sharps injuries in hospital-based healthcare workers.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 20 , Issue 12 , December 1999 , pp. 806 - 811
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1999

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