Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-txr5j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-08T09:29:56.338Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Application of CQI Tools to the Reduction in Risk of Needlestick Injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Leslie Burnett  and
Doug Chesher
Leslie Burnett*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Chemistry, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia
Doug Chesher
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Chemistry, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia
*
Director of Clinical Chemistry, Level 2, ICPMR, Westmead Hospital, Westmead NSW 2145, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

To reduce the risk of needlestick injuries to laboratory workers.

Design:

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) tools were applied to data collected on the number of blood gas syringes that arrived in the laboratory with needles still attached and to the reasons for these occurrences.

Setting:

A clinical chemistry department within a 900-bed tertiary referral university teaching hospital.

Participants:

Clinical chemistry laboratory staff and medical staff responsible for sending syringes with needles still attached.

Interventions:

Changing to a preheparinized blood gas syringe that included a syringe cap within the packaging.

Results:

Fivefold reduction in the number of syringes arriving in the laboratory with needles still attached.

Conclusion:

The risk of needlestick injury to laboratory workers can be reduced by provision to clinical staff of preheparinized blood gas syringes that include a syringe cap within the packaging. The techniques of CQI provide powerful tools for the identification, solving, and monitoring of safety-related issues within the healthcare environment.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 16 , Issue 9 , September 1995 , pp. 503 - 505
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Collins, CH, Kennedy, DA. Microbiological hazards of occupational needlestick and “sharps” injuries. J Appl Bacteriol 1987;62:385–402.Google Scholar
2. Morgan, DR. Needlestick injuries: how can we teach people better about risk assessment? J Hosp Infect 1988;12:301–309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. McCormick, RD, Maki, DG. Epidemiology of needlestick injuries in hospital personnel. Am J Med 1981;70:928–932.Google Scholar
4. Makofsky, D, Cone, JE. Installing needle boxes closer to the bedside reduces needle-recapping rates in hospital units. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1993;14:140–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Berwick, DM, Godfrey, AB, Roessner, J. Curing Health Care, New Strategies for Quality Improvement. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; 1990.Google Scholar
6. Bader, BS. Rediscovering Quality. Boston, MA: Bader and Associates; 1992.Google Scholar
7. Burnett, L, Mackay, M, Costaganna, G, Shaw, W. A model quality system for total quality management in the pathology laboratory. Clin Biochem Rev 1993;14:47–51.Google Scholar
8. McConnell, J. The Seven Tools of TQC. 3rd ed. Manly Vale, NSW, Australia: Delaware Books; 1986.Google Scholar
9. Jagger, J, Hunt, EH, Brand-Elnaggar, J, Pearson, RD. Rates of needle-stick injury caused by various devices in a university hospital. N Engl J Med 1988;319:284–288.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Grant, L, Leavenworth, RS. Statistical Quality Control. 6th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 1988.Google Scholar